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Did these pampered heirs know that for every inch of conquered land, countless orphans and widows paid the price? Wailing parents were forced to bury their children.?????.The white-haired burying the dark-haired.The worst kind of punishment.

And the bigger our army grew, the more it would take to feed and pay them.

Did they know where that money came from?

Taxes. More and more taxes. Often on the already impoverished citizens of conquered cities.

Most of them might not know these things, but I did. For the stars and Fate forced me to watch it all, every night.

Behind Siwang, Rong’s banner waved high against the northern wind. Originally, the banner had a gold dragon sewn over a swatch of red fabric. After the prophecy, the emperor added a bloodred phoenix to the banner that was visible only when it caught the light. To remind everyone that under the Mandate of Heaven, their prince was destined to become the emperor of all emperors, because he was betrothed to the girl who bore the phoenix’s mark.

Rong waved this banner and waged wars in my name. But when was the last time my voice was heard in all of this? When was the last time someone asked me whatIwanted?

“How lucky they are to have us as their new guardians,” the conversation continued.

“The people of Fulin should be grateful that they are taken underourwing, and not one of the southern dynasties who treated us northerners with prejudice and hate….”

“My father said the southern dynasties used to treat us worse than they treat their dogs, before Rong rose up and liberated us….”

“Speaking of southern bastards, where is the Lan prince?” a voice asked.

“He is not feeling well.” The answer came not from Siwang but from the man who sat across the fire pits from me.

Wu Caikun sat at Siwang’s right hand, just as his father currently sat at the emperor’s right hand at the other feast. Caikun was perhaps Siwang’s closest confidant and one of the only men in court who did everything to avoid me. For I had tried to kiss him a few years ago because I wanted to give away my first kiss before Siwang claimed it, and he had been absolutely terrified of me ever since. A part of me had briefly relished the idea of being feared, that smugness extinguished when I realized Caikun was scared only of Siwang finding out.

“Prince Siwang, did you uninvite him to the feast because he took your stag?” a man slurred.

“Not for a stag,” someone corrected. “Perhaps Lan Yexue simply looked at Lady Fei for too long?”

The crowd laughed, and I grimaced.

“Lan Yexue did make Lady Fei smile today. And the last time another man made her smile, Siwang had to banish him and his whole family to some nowhere village in the far north.”

I set my chopsticks down. The candles had burned halfway down and I had endured enough.

“Fei?”

I paused at Siwang’s voice.

He handed a bowl to the eunuch closest to him and whisperedsomething that no one else could hear. The eunuch delivered the bowl to my table.

Cubes of lamb meat, torn from their skewers.

Siwang smiled at me, those hopeful eyes so gentle and soft. My chest ached. Fangyun was right: I would break his heart. If not tonight, then one day. For as long as bloodsheds haunted my dreams and my heart longed for freedom, I was doomed to leave him.

By choice or by the force of another man.

The fire in my belly quieted.

“Speaking of our princess, I hear Lady Lifeng killed those rabbits herself?” Another voice drifted from somewhere across the smoky fire pits. I had half a mind to tell them to go easy on the wine and sober up before someone said something they might regret. “I never realized our future empress had such heroic qualities.”

“The women of my ancestors were just as good hunters as the men,” Siwang interjected before I could. “They were the ones who fed the tribes when the men were busy fighting wars. And who are you to criticize my betrothed this way?”

“Everyone says Lady Lifeng’s beauty is something to marvel at. It seems they neglected to mention that her archery skills are just as extraordinary,” someone quickly added. The son of a conquered warlord. He didn’t look at me when he spoke; his beaming smile and well-crafted compliment were not meant for me. They were for Siwang.

???????.Even when striking a dog, you ought to consider who its master is.

I forced another smile. This one tasted the bitterest of them all.