CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
E veryone stills, the battling soldiers breaking away to stare at me—united, briefly, in shock. The chief attendant’s face twists with rage as Princess Chunlei pushes past the guards to reach us, her eyes wide with horror.
The tip of my blade is pressed not against Prince Zixin’s throat—but the starfire in the crown, glittering with crimson fire.
No one moves toward me, afraid I’ll damage it.
The stone is impenetrably hard, but I grind the dagger down with all my force, almost slipping against the dragon’s blood—until, at last, something gives way, a tiny nick forming where the tip of my weapon is buried.
Triumph surges, but then the starfire abruptly hardens, the red fading from it, turning a harsh glittering white once more.
As more soldiers close around me, I scoop the crown up, my other hand still holding the dagger over it. “I’ve already cracked your precious starfire. Any closer and I’ll destroy it.” While I can’t, I don’t think they’ll risk it.
“Fall back,” Princess Chunlei commands as the prince remains silent, still staring at me, his hand pressed to his neck where I’d cut him.
“Why?” he rasps. “Why didn’t you kill me?”
“Because you aren’t the only monster here.” I swing to Princess Chunlei. “You planned this. You didn’t leave the dagger in my room by chance. You wanted me to take it… to kill your brother.”
Gasps erupt from those close enough to hear, though the chief attendant remains expressionless. Prince Zixin laughs in disbelief. “My sister would never do that.” Yet as he faces her, she doesn’t deny it.
More of the rogue soldiers force a path to the dais, allowing General Xilu to approach, a gilded hawk embedded in his breastplate—the same as those carved on the disks in the soldiers’ armor.
“General Xilu, what is the meaning of this?” Prince Zixin demands. “Why have your soldiers attacked mine?”
The general strides to the princess, inclining his head to her before answering. “Your Highness, you are not the future of the Iron Mountains. That honor lies with your sister.”
Her smile is warm and expectant as she looks up at General Xilu. She wanted him to lose the tournament not because she loathed him, but to avoid being offered like a trophy—to push him to defy the prince he was sworn to serve.
“The palace is secured,” the general tells her. “All who resisted have been arrested, the rest surrendered. The throne is yours.”
“Traitors,” Prince Zixin snarls, even while his gaze darts between the soldiers and ministers as though seeking aid. None come forward, none speak for him.
“Once I am crowned, who will be the traitor?” Princess Chunlei glances at me, without a trace of the warmth she feigned. “How did you find out?”
“The pins in your hair—the birds are the same as General Xilu’s insignia.
Your lack of fear when I held my knife to your brother’s throat.
The things you said… you were guiding me toward this.
Also, Mina would never have let you wear a dagger that didn’t match your outfit, which meant you chose it yourself—you wanted me to have it. ”
My hand is almost numb from pressing the blade to the starfire, the only thing keeping the soldiers from cutting me apart. Prince Zixin clutches his chest, his fingers stained with blood.
I stare at the chief attendant, who moves to stand beside the princess, his allegiance clear.
“The health tonic you serve His Highness—it’s made with the same berries as those in the dragon’s cage,” I say slowly.
“Are they poison? Is that why His Highness falls ill, why he’s hurt now?
” When he doesn’t reply, I know I’m right.
Prince Zixin staggers back, then slumps on the ground, a grayish tinge to his pallor. “Why?”
The chief attendant’s mouth curls. “My son was one of your most loyal guards. Your father executed him for your mistake, for helping one of our enemies.”
For helping me.
The princess sighs. “Father took your starfire to imprison the dragon in the seal, but only I knew how to seize its power, from my studies. Winterfire berries forged a bond between you and the dragon, allowing you to use its magic to strengthen our iron, to even draw its blood—necessary to merge the starfire. But too potent a dose of the berries also weakens you. By hurting the dragon, you’ve only hurt yourself. ”
“Why, Chunlei?” Prince Zixin rasps. “We have always been close.”
“Father never gave me my due. I had to move in the shadows while you basked in the light. It was my idea to strike at Mist Island first, to steal the magic they wouldn’t share. He never cared about being a good leader but an unrivaled one.”
Rage and loathing collide in me, that she was behind it all. If I had my magic, a vine would be throttling Princess Chunlei’s neck until it snapped.
“Arrest her!” Prince Zixin commands, but no one moves, even Minister Luk keeping his face lowered.
“Brother, the court is mine.” Princess Chunlei smiles, smoothing down her skirt. “I have the support of the key ministers. After your volatile behavior and vicious tendencies, they believe I’m more suited to rule. The army will obey me, and you’ve already surrendered your starfire to the crown.”
“You said you had no interest in power, Sister,” the prince says in a strained voice. “You said you would help my reign… that you would yield me your starfire when I asked it of you.”
Her eyes crinkle. “Only a fool would surrender such power. Imagine what the pieces joined can do—the magic to be claimed. Father would have pried the starfire from our hands if he’d known how to unite them; he would have slit our throats for it.
It’s why I never told him what I learned.
” She shakes her head. “A grave defect in a king is to be less learned than those you rule. I worked and fought for this, sacrificed more than you can imagine. And that is why I will ascend the throne.”
Prince Zixin struggles to push himself up but falls back down, his expression grim. I never thought I’d pity the Prince of the Iron Mountains… but this hollow in my chest comes close.
“You told me about the dragon’s blood, Sister—what it could do. You trusted me.”
“Only because I needed to. The stupid creature wouldn’t come near me, only responding to you.”
Because the dragon knew Prince Zixin had helped me? Of his kindness to my mother?
Prince Zixin’s breathing grows labored. “Did you ever see me as your brother, or did you always intend for me to die?”
“What about you, Zixin? I was just someone you could use to strengthen your reign. You would have married me off to Thorn Valley. To that drunk buffoon.”
“It was diplomacy. We need someone to infiltrate their court. It’s what Father wanted.”
“I won’t be your pawn; I won’t leave my future in your hands.
I now have three pieces of starfire, and a fourth once Duke Yuan answers my command.
I’ll make my own destiny.” Her voice rings with resolve.
“I did love you, Brother—but you became my enemy the day you wielded power over me. No one ever will again.”
Princess Chunlei is staring at the crown in my arm. If only I could destroy it. I grind my dagger harder against the starfire, but it’s immutable now—unlike when I pierced it before, reddened with the dragon’s blood. Does the blood make the starfire vulnerable, allowing it to merge with another?
“My brother can give you nothing now: no position, no crown, he can’t even secure your safety.
” She speaks in that soothing voice, the one that misled me into thinking she was kind and good.
“Release the dagger and give me the crown. I’ll let you leave—you and your friends, as long as you don’t return. ”
As long as I let them kill the prince. Dian is edging slowly toward me, her face pale, Ruilin by her side.
Too many guards are between us, crowded around the dais.
I need to find a way through them. Despite everything…
the princess’s offer tempts me. I owe Prince Zixin nothing—except he’s no longer just the prince but the boy with the handkerchief.
But I can’t trust the princess. Even if she lets us go, she will bring her army to our realm and destroy it.
It’s why they’ve been strengthening their weapons, claiming the power of the starfire.
Light flickers from the candles, unsettling me with their shifting shadows, my skin crawling beneath the weight of everyone’s gaze.
No one speaks—nobles, attendants, soldiers—waiting to see how the scales tip.
But more footsteps thud outside, urgent and frantic.
As General Xilu tenses, reaching for his sword—I don’t dare take my eyes off the crown.
“The girl is bluffing,” the general says to Princess Chunlei with a scornful look at me. “Her hand is shaking; she’s tiring. Let me end this.”
My body flinches, recalling the brutality of his blows. “Try anything, General, and we’ll find out if this starfire can be split into two again.” Somehow, my voice emerges clear, betraying none of my uncertainty. If they know I’m helpless—I’m dead.
“We can’t take the risk,” Princess Chunlei tells him. “She’s already damaged it.”
As I shift away from them—something whizzes through the air, an arrow hurtling toward the crown in my arms. Instinctively I drop it, darting back as another arrow plunges toward me. I curse, diving for the fallen crown—but General Xilu springs forward to snatch it.
My heart plummets as he holds up the crown, studying it. “How can we restore the cut in the starfire?”
“Once we reunite more of the pieces, it won’t matter.” Princess Chunlei’s eyes narrow at me. “You are a greater nuisance than expected. If only Lady Daiyu hadn’t eaten the sugared fruit. I was assured the poison was fatal.”
“You tried to kill me?” Fortunately she doesn’t know how I saved Daiyu.
“I guessed who you were. The flowers in your courtyard, the mark on your finger that I saw after you fought General Xilu. If you’d sided with Zixin, your support would have strengthened him.”
Prince Zixin’s eyes are closed, his body still. The Sun Dragon lies unmoving in his grasp, its blood glittering darkly as it continues to spill forth. With every moment, more of General Xilu’s soldiers are pouring into the hall. Time is running out.
The princess’s voice hardens. “I’ll make this offer only once: Join me, and you will have a place in my court—safe and honored.”
“My neck beneath your foot?”
“Better than parted from your head,” she replies icily. “Think carefully. For a nobody, you’ve collected quite a few enemies.” It’s no idle threat, her eyes flicking to General Xilu’s.
He raises the crown in his hand. “We don’t need her. It would give me great pleasure to execute her—my first order as king.”
“King consort,” Princess Chunlei reminds him, a little too quickly.
“Of course.” He smiles, yet his gaze is cool. “Let the coronation proceed.” A deliberate move to show that the princess has the crown with his permission. And I wonder what happens should he revoke it.
I force myself to breathe slowly. The prince lies on the floor, fading fast. The poison is stealing his life, along with the dragon’s. I must stop this, I must break the curse—my insides knotting at the thought.
Right now, like it or not, my survival is bound to the prince I despise. And we’re losing.
General Xilu lifts the crown, Princess Chunlei’s expression radiant with triumph. All eyes are upon her, even those of the guards around me. There is just one chance; it must count.
As Princess Chunlei bends her neck, General Xilu lowers the crown onto her head. The soldiers around us bow low. With all attention diverted, I drop down beside Prince Zixin, cupping his face between my palms. He opens his eyes, blinking as though startled.
Then I bring my face to his… and I kiss the Prince of the Iron Mountains.