I see the answers to the questions I’ve been asking all along—why the poison was undetectable even by the most experienced shénnóng-shī, why the royal physicians could not find the antidote.
It’s because this poison was created by something else entirely. Something ancient and waiting, biding its time.
Shénnóng…， it snarls, revealing its sharp fangs. It hates Shénnóng and all his followers. It despises the old gods and all humankind, everything they represent.
It lunges toward Shu, wanting to swallow her whole, to satisfy the hunger it feels after she eluded it time and time again.
I don’t hesitate. I throw myself in the serpent’s path. Its fangs sink into my skin, and I scream.
“Ning!” Shu cries out, and catches my hand. Our fingers reach each other, take hold, and she pulls me toward her. My arm is wrenched out of the grasp of the serpent, and we fall through the tree, the branches snapping under our weight, whipping and lashing at our exposed skin. I hang on to her tightly, protecting her with my own body.
The serpent slithers down the tree, following.
I close my eyes, both of us tensing, waiting for the inevitable impact … and return to my own body, my face wet with tears.
“Ning?” Shu struggles to sit up. Beside us, our father cries, too, sobbing like I’ve never seen him before.
I hurry to her bedside, holding the bowl up to her lips. She drinks it with eyes still on me, disbelieving.
“I dreamed…，” she says with awe. “I dreamed you came to find me.”
I smile through my tears. “I promised you I would come back, didn’t I?”
There’s a shadow enveloping Dàxī, and a princess waiting for me in a grove of pomelo trees. But in this moment, nothing else matters. My sister is alive.
Then Father is suddenly there, holding my arm up.
Two trails of blood mark where my skin was broken by the serpent’s fangs. Black tendrils slither across my skin like poisonous, choking vines.
The bowl slips out of my hand and lands on the floor with a clatter.
Shu’s face is the last thing I remember as the darkness sweeps me away.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
As I continue on my writing journey, there are many people I have to send my appreciation and thanks for helping me reach this point.
Thank you to my editor, Emily Settle. For your insightful edits and your help with finding the heart of my story. This book wouldn’t have become the story I wanted to tell without your guidance.
Thank you to my copyeditor, Valerie Shea, and production editors, Kathy Wielgosz and Avia Perez, for your attention to detail and for dealing with my waffling regarding tone marks.
Thank you to the rest of the Feiwel and Friends team for believing in this book and assisting with its publication.
Thank you to my cover designer, Rich Deas, and cover artist, Sija Hong, for bringing Ning to life so beautifully.
Thank you to my agent, Rachel Brooks, who never gave up on me and is endlessly patient with all of my random thoughts and emails. For always being available and enthusiastic about my work.
To the 2016 Pitch Wars mentee group, thanks for your continued support, especially my dear friends Suzanne Park, Rebecca Schaeffer, and Sasha Nanua. I’m excited for all of your books and your upcoming projects. Thank you to my mentors Axie Oh and Janella Angeles, who introduced me to the writing community and provided me with so much guidance in navigating the publishing world.
To Nafiza Azad and Roselle Lim, I’m so happy that we connected. I very much appreciate the safe space for our candid talks and our shared love of good food.
Many thanks to the authors who paved the way before me. Seeing your books on the bookstore shelves made me believe it was possible to write my own Asian/Chinese-inspired fantasy: Cindy Pon, Julie C. Dao, Ellen Oh, and Joan He.
To Kat Cho and Deeba Zargarpur, thanks for your early reads and your support of my writing. Many thanks to Zhui Ning Chang for your thoughtful feedback.
Thank you to my sister, Mimi Lin, who read my beginning drafts and put up with my late-night texts and cheered me on.
Finally, thank you to my husband and partner, Aaron, for your continued encouragement and love.