Chapter 29
“And this is why our marriage will be in the best interest of both our peoples. It will allow for both the consolidation of resources and organizational acumen in addition to opening up avenues of trade with the entire desert basin of our glorious nation,” Xien Su assured.
The man’s too confident smile put Linnea’s teeth on edge, even disguised as one of Nili’s servitors as she herself stood to the right-hand side of the seated Princess Sunlay, who was working so hard to keep her features both bland and polite as the smarmy bastard Xien Su continued doing his best to sell the princess on the benefits of marriage this very night, for legal purposes only, of course.
They wouldn’t consummate it until the moment the basin had been restored to its glorious former luster.
Xien Su swore that with odd solemnity, as if he gave the slightest SHIT about Sunlay’s feelings or well-being.
And his “dear” associate Lord Guo, gazing at Sunlay with the most supercilious smile that was simultaneously a mocking smirk, made Linnea want to just boil the disgusting slug alive.
“Calm, dear one.”
Nili conveying so much with a single discreet glance at the fiery-eyed redhead who seemed insignificant to everyone else… yet her gentle smile of sympathy and mutual accord was still a balm on Linnea’s mind.
“And that is why delay can only hinder us. Should we unite this very day, we will be able to put over half a dozen mutually beneficial trade accords into effect before the last of our unified grain shipments are made. And given the food shortages we know that Wanshi is already feeling, with visibly reduced water flow cutting into cropland output, I know that you wish to do everything possible to ensure the continued prosperity and well-being of your people. Is that not so, Princess Sunlay?”
It was, of course, Lord Guo who said the last that was as much threat and enticement with his simpering smile that did nothing for the coldness of his gaze as he stood before the royal family, utterly unaffected by the pomp and splendor of Wanshi’s palatial court.
Xien Su affected a mien of solemnity, as if above it all.
As if he regretted that Lord Guo even felt the need to emphasize such crass, material things.
Yet when the exquisitely dressed Sunlay, whose court attire of silken cheongsam with a thousand ascending cranes infused with the boons of countless wards and blessings, her nose, ears, lip, and cheeks adorned with studs of sapphire and chains of gold, finally addressed him directly, pinning him with her kohl-lined eyes enhanced with crushed spirit pearls, he seemed to light up with the same happy devotion that any man eager for the hand of his beloved would show before the world.
“Lord Xien Su. You and your second have done exceptionally well in showcasing the benefits of an alliance between our peoples to such an extent that my father and I both see the merit in your proposed… alliance. Yet far more urgent than the convenience of extensive trade routes inured from all taxes and tariffs is the sheer necessity of a steady supply of water upon which our entire city would depend. Not to mention the benefits of protective wards that, among other boons, serve to protect our entire city from the restless dead we’re given to understand your forces are being forced to deal with, even now. ”
Her lips didn’t crack an iota, despite Lord Guo’s glare. But there was no mistaking the fierce twinkle in her eyes.
“In all candor, Lord Xien Su, there is no greater way for you to prove the earnestness of your affections than by instilling your precious core into our ritual site this very night. Should you be willing to embrace that vital task…” Sunlay paused, locking gazes with Xien Su for long moments.
“Then I will be your obedient wife in all things. Pleasing you in all the ways that the queen of your heart should.”
Sunlay held Xien Su’s stricken gaze for long moments even as Lord Guo scowled, turning his glare to the man by his side, and for just a heartbeat, Linnea dared to hope.
Yet just as Xien Su raised himself to his full height, teasing smile upon handsome lips as he honored her with the gentlest of bows, the air rang with the clang of countless panicked bells flooding the entire basin with a discordance that could only mean one thing.
Sunlay’s sudden pallor was matched by her father, both instantly understanding what it meant.
Yet none more than Lord Guo and Xien Su, fawning superciliousness and forced charm vanishing under the imperious gazes of dragons finally allowed to spread their wings, revealing their true feelings in gazes crackling with contempt and a killing aura that froze the entire court as Lord Guo’s smirking coterie of assassins manifested from the shadows all around.
“The damned core has finally cracked!” Lord Guo said with a mocking chuckle. “And not a moment too soon.”
The king’s eyes widened, and somehow Nili instantly understood their sudden dire peril.
By chance, it seemed, several of the lamps sputtered out with a chance breeze, and the entire royal dais was wrapped in shadows and gloom.
Xien Su’s charming laughter was at utter odds with his mocking smile. “And I do believe that with the rupture of that damned ward, all the oaths that bound us are no more.”
Lord Guo laughed long and loud. “That is correct, Lord Xien.”
Lord Xien flashed a killer’s smile, suddenly holding a guandao radiating Metal Qi so sharp that even the least cultivator present could sense the peril of its edge.
“Then I say we end this farce and take what is ours by right of conquest.”
Lord Guo sneered, ignoring the looks of horror and fury being sent his way by the court.
“That you would dare!” roared a salt-and pepper-bearded city lord, flanked by a pair of powerfully built men with hands on their daos. “You have broken covenant with your oaths to Wanshi! You will leave this moment or you will—”
Linnea’s eyes bulged. For whatever else the lord was going to say was cut off when his head was cleaved from his neck by the soulless-eyed assassin that had appeared behind him.
The two powerfully built bodyguards beside him had time only to gaze at the horrific sight of their master’s decapitation before serpentine daggers were plunged into their necks by a pair of flanking assassins no longer playing the role of visiting courtiers.
Lord Guo tore off his mask of bonhomie to reveal the bloodthirsty psychopath that he truly was, laughing as the crimson lifeblood of Wanshi’s elites rained down upon his corpulent form.
“Come, girl. We leave now!”
Linnea’s mouth opened wide, at a stunned loss for words, before a hand gently steered her toward an exit so well hidden in shadows that she barely saw it.
Only her party-link to an anxious-looking Lao Tie allowed her to see it at all, his eyes equally wide with dismay equal to her own as they bore witness to the brutal subjugation of the entire Wanshi court of Bronze-tier nobles.
Their city’s elites had absolutely no hope against over a half-dozen highly trained Silver-tier killers given sudden free rein to embrace their most twisted fantasies.
“The wards have fallen. Our city is now defenseless. Were it otherwise, those monsters should have been crippled or struck dead with their first breach of the accords.” Lao Tie gave a sharp shake of his head, his voice hardly a whisper as he slipped through the shadowy portal suddenly before them with Linnea’s hand tightly caught in his grip.
“We should do something!” Linnea hissed.
Lao Tie shook his head, though his gaze was pained as they followed Nili and the royal family darting down increasingly utilitarian palatial corridors, leaving all pomp and grandeur behind as the ringing bells were replaced with the screams of all those realizing that the peaceful, harmonious lives they had savored could be torn free as easily as being jolted from halcyon dream to horrific nightmare that could only have one ending.
“No, Linnea. There is nothing we could have done. Fire wujen we might be, but our art would be more likely to harm the hostages than the monsters eager to subjugate the entire council with a few well-timed acts of terror to force the rest in line. If we were to interfere, the entire court would be ruthlessly slaughtered. And against a half-dozen cultivators who are actually specialized in speed, the rarest body cultivation path of all, and trained as assassins, no less, we would be cut down as well.”
Those words crushed what little hope a still-stunned Linnea had as they made their way to the bowels of the castle before she was shaken to her core by a loss that had her stumbling to her knees.
Lao Tie’s eyes widened, though his lurch was far more subtle.
The despair in his eyes was a mirror of Linnea’s own.
A member of their party had fallen, and Linnea instantly knew who it was.
Yet at that very moment, the entire palace lit up with a brilliant flash of color and wonder and delicious hope, and a wave of healing energy seemed to wash all fatigue away.
Linnea instantly knew what it meant. The only thing that it could mean.
She turned to meet the young nobleman’s eyes once more, Lao Tie’s fierce smile reaffirming the truth on his lips. “They did it. Our friends actually managed to fuse the core to the caldera!”
Lao Tie’s words echoed through the corridor, earning a glare from Nili and a look of desperate hope from Sulia, whose eyes lingered for long moments on the man who was so clearly smitten with her.
For just a heartbeat, even through the dread and anxiety she saw across her strained features, Linnea saw Sunlay flash the first genuine smile she had ever seen cross her porcelain features.
Even the king whispered a fervent word of thanks. “The ward has recovered. There is hope!”