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I didn’t know how to answer. Thankfully Siwang entered at just the right time.

Slow steps. He wasn’t as excited to see me as I’d expected. Instead, he seemed somber, as if he’d known this would happen.

“The stars must be protecting her,” Siwang said quietly, not looking at me, something he did only when he was hiding things from me.

“Your Highness.” The physicians bowed.

“Can we have some privacy?” Siwang asked. A command phrased in the manner of a request. “Oh, and I don’t have to remind anyone that what happens in this room, stays in this room, right? Lady Lifeng’s identity must stay secret.”

The physicians nodded in unison, then exited.

The small tent suddenly felt empty with just the two of us. The familiar cadence of a morning camp hummed in the background. Soldiers laughing, the clatter of bowls and spoons, and murmured gossip. The yawns and rushing feet of those who were up early to train. I had missed this during the lonely days on the road.

“How are you feeling?” Siwang asked at the same time that I said, “Lan Yexue was here last night, though you already know this, don’t you?”

Siwang sat at my bed’s edge. “I do.”

“You had a chance to kill him and win this war; you should have taken it.”

Siwang laughed. “I never thought you’d be this bloodthirsty.”

“If Lan Yexue dies, then—”

“Currently, he is the only one who can control those vampires. What if he dies and those monsters end up running rampant?”

“Those demons won’t die with him?” I asked.

“I don’t know. There’s so much about those monsters that we don’t know.” Siwang exhaled, then rolled up his right sleeve until I saw the long cut around his bicep. “And who said I didn’t try to kill him? I remember how fast he was during our fight in the mountains a year ago. I thought I was prepared…. I was wrong.”

“Oh.” I slumped back down on my bed.

“Do you think less of me?”

“For what?”

“For ambushing the man who came here to save you.”

He was not here to save me. He was just here to repay what he owed me, and now that the life debt had been paid, we were even. “This is war, we are losing, so you did what you had to do. Speaking of the war, I think I know how to turn things around.”

Siwang arched a brow. “How?”

“The vampires are not invincible. You said they are weakened by sunlight, but I think they are also scared of fire. Anything that is bright and hot. When—”

“I know.”

I blinked. “You do?”

“Did you think it was all a coincidence, how our reinforcements just happened to launch fireworks in the middle of spring?” Siwang mused, a smile teasing his lips.

“Oh.”My heart sank. Suddenly, I realized just how naive I was, thinking I’d discovered something so crucial. Rong’s armies were already spearheaded by some of the best minds and most experienced generals the continent had ever seen. If winning against the vampires were so easy, we wouldn’t be here. “How embarrassing. I thought I’d found the key to winning this war.”

“You did find the key to winning this war.” Siwang leaned a little closer. “Do you remember your silver-tipped bow? Usually when we try to kill the vampires, unless we sever their heads or cut their hearts straight from their chests, they always heal. But when you stabbed one with the silver of the bow, he perished, crumbling to ash.”

“He did?” I could hardly remember. Everything had happened so fast. I remembered only the taste of ash in my mouth, how the monster disappeared from sight before another charged at me. “You think they are vulnerable to silver as well as fire?”

“They might be. I’ve sent word to the capital, and they’re using all the silver they can get their hands to make weapons. If the vampires are truly vulnerable to silver, then you might have single-handedly changed the fate of Rong.”

I stared at him, speechless.I did something right…for once.“Can we turn things around?”