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Carved to hunt a whole other species of beast.

Then the vision blurred at the edges without warning. One moment shifted into the next in rapid succession….

Hoofprints in freshly fallen snow.

The bloodied corpse of a Beiying tiger abandoned at the riverside, the beautiful blade Fangyun had given me not a day earlier lodged deep in its eye. My surname,??, carved into its gilded hilt.

Siwang’s scowl, lips downturned at the edges.

A piece of my torn coat in his gloved hands, retrieved from the tiger’s claws.

Dawn easing into the horizon, slow and creeping.

A launched arrow.

Blood splattered across fresh snow.

Yexue.

I woke with a gasp to wintry blue daylight as the impending dawn chased the night away from behind heavy gray clouds that dusted fresh snow along the terrain.

My wet lashes were clumped with frost. Yexue was already awake, putting out the fire and tending to my horse. From the ashes, he pulledout two eggs, likely stolen from a nearby nest, and was about to give one to me when I uttered: “We have to go.”

He smiled. A beautiful sight, with none of the caution and fear I had expected. Were all princes this fearless, or did his magical blood gave him a special recklessness? The egg was warm. I would have cradled it between my hands if we weren’t running out of time.

I tried to push myself to my feet. My head spun at the sudden movement, and my legs felt like noodles, going soft under my own weight. Yexue was at my side before I knew it, letting me lean on him to stand upright.

“They are coming. We must go.Now,” I said.

There was no trace of fear on Yexue’s porcelain face.

I waited for him to ask how I knew, and clutched tight to the secret I had hidden for so long.

Yexue had bared his own magic to me last night and saved my life. If I had to give away my own secret to get us out of these mountains alive, it would be fair.

Right?

Before the stargazer disappeared, she had told me there was a power inside me, something magnificent and dangerous.

Be careful, child,she had told me.You are more powerful than you realize. But men do not like powerful women.

“We’d best get moving, then,” Yexue said finally. The look he gave me was one of understanding, not confusion. As if he already knew my secret. “Are you coming with me, or will you wait for your prince and leave your fate to the entitlement of men?”

“I…”

“If you want to run, this might your last chance, Little Goddess.” I didn’t like this nickname he had given me. “Come with me.” His handgrasped mine and pulled me to him in a way that would have caused a scandal if anyone saw. “Siwang isn’t going to let you leave. He’ll keep you at his side and make you his empress even if he must force you. That’s not the kind of life you want. That’s not the life youdeserve.”

My heart writhed like a small fluttering bird, slamming against the confinement of her cage. “And how do you know what I deserve?”

“Because you are brave, and courageous, and good. Good people deserve to be free, Fei. If the stars won’t give you all that you deserve, then letme.”

“You don’t know me, Lan Yexue.”

“What I saw last night was enough. Come to Lan. There, I will make sure you can do whatever you want, be whoever you want. Forget about conventions and duty—it’s about time we break some of these ancient rules. And if I must go to war to give you what you deserve, then so be it.”

That vision of blood-splattered snow flashed again. Lijian’s blackened eye and bruised cheeks when he announced that his family was moving away from the capital. “Rong is the most powerful empire on the continent. There is a reason why you were sent here as a ward in the first place. Why Rong has conquered half the continent in just two decades.”

“Are you…worried about me?” Yexue chuckled and placed his hand on the top of my head and ruffled my hair, just a little. Like I was a child who had just said something cute. “You are not the only one who wants to defy your destiny, Lifeng Fei. I came to Yong’An for my own reasons.”