When my mother heard that the honorable Captain Wenzhi was from the Demon Realm, she recoiled with horror.
“Xingyin, how did you feel?” she asked with piercing insight.
I shook my head, at a loss for words—his deception was still hard for me to bear. Now that I was safe, the weight of Wenzhi’s betrayal had sunk in fully. A different pain from when Liwei and I had parted, not that I would have suffered either willingly. With Liwei, it had been circumstances which tore us apart. He was the Celestial Crown Prince with obligations to his kingdom. While with Wenzhi . . . it had been his duplicity and choices which wounded me so. My hurt was laced with remorse that I had been so careless, so imprudent as to fall for his lies. And there was bitterness, too, that he had shaken my trust in myself. That he had brought me low, to the depths of his own deceit—when I feigned my affection to drug him to escape. I was not ashamed of what I had done, but neither did I take pride in it.
Fortunately, Ping’er had more pressing questions to ask. “What happened to the pearls? The dragons?”
I fumbled for the words to do justice to their unearthly beauty, their power and grace. When I spoke of restoring the dragons’ essence, my mother’s hand covered mine. There were no recriminations for endangering myself and her freedom, just pride glowing in her face.
“The dragons are free,” Ping’er whispered. “I had believed them lost forever.”
I kept on with my story, answering their questions as well as I could, only demurring when it would hurt too much—when I was unable to conceal my feelings. By the time I finished, the sun was high, the sky an azure blue.
It was then, I untied my pouch, reaching into it. My fingers closed around the seal the Celestial Emperor had given me, as cold as a fistful of snow. My heart beat so quickly I could barely breathe as I slid from my chair and sank to my knees before my mother.
“Xingyin, why are you kneeling?” She sounded confused as she leaned forward, her hands outstretched to lift me up—
But I raised my hands to her instead. Cupped between my palms was the seal, shimmering like sunlit ice. I was trembling so hard, I did not even know why—was it with fear, excitement, hope, or all of it? Would this work? How I prayed it would.
She took the seal from my hand and held it up. “What is this?”
Before I could answer, something sparked in the metal—beams of silver-white light streaking from its depths, engulfing my mother in dazzling radiance. Ping’er and I shielded our eyes, almost blinded from the glare—which faded abruptly, the seal now darkening to a lump of dull coal.
My mother went as still as marble. When she turned to me, her eyes brimmed with wonder, shining brighter than the thousand lanterns lit.
“The enchantment is lifted. I am free.”
As Ping’er scrambled to her feet, exclaiming in delight, my body went limp with relief. Until this moment I had feared a cruel trick by the emperor. But he had kept his word. A torrential rush of emotion swept through me that untangled the knots buried deep, dispelled the lurking shadows, pried away my sorrow—my entire being filled with nothing in this moment except a soaring, blazing lightness.
Finally, our lives could begin anew.
40
In my childhood, our isolation was no great burden. I had no friends or companions, and little need for them; my mother and Ping’er had sufficed for me. But now, after a few weeks immersed in such tranquility, I found myself longing for my friends in the Celestial Kingdom and beyond.
My wish was granted sooner than I imagined. Before the sun rose the next day, Ping’er called out that Liwei had arrived. My eyes were heavy with sleep, but a pulse rippled through me at the thought of seeing him. I leapt out of bed and washed my face quickly, before pulling on a blue robe—his favorite color, my treacherous mind observed before I silenced it. Dragging a comb through my hair, I coiled part of it up. My steps were quick and impatient, and I told myself it was because I was glad to see a friend—any friend—after this solitude. When I entered the Silver Harmony Hall, I found my mother sitting with him as they conversed with easy familiarity. Ping’er stood beside them, pouring their tea. As we usually served ourselves, I suspected her attendance today was to glean a closer look at the Celestial Crown Prince.
My breath caught in my throat at the sight of him. His dark blue brocade robe was fastened with a length of black cloth, tassels of silk and jade hanging from his waist. His long hair was gathered into a gold ring, swinging down his back. He sat with his palms resting over his knees, with an ease to his bearing that I had not seen for a while. As he rose to greet me, his smile was more radiant than the sun.