Page 8 of The Nightblood Prince

“A toast, to victory!” A voice broke the buzzing chatter and crackling flames.

Cheers followed. Sweet winter wine spilled from raised cups, trickling down the delicate hands of Rong’s most revered heirs, all hubris and greed, coated over bitter resentment and centuries of blood debts between dynasties.

Each boy was posturing, angling to be the most important person in the room after Siwang.

And while the girls flashed hints of demure smiles behind their sleeves, I knew they were as ambitious as the boys.

The feasts held before the hunt were always small and intimate—as intimate as any feasts with a hundred guests and twice as many servants could get, at least.

This year was busier than most. The emperor had invited guests from every tribute state to witness our empire’s military talents. To remind them that if any of them dared to rebel, this was what they would go up against.

And while the emperor held court with the adults to discuss more delicate politics, it was Siwang’s responsibility to entertain their children.

I had overheard the emperor tell Siwang: They are the future of your empire, son.

Get to know them, build relationships, most of all, seek out their weaknesses and let them know you are the alpha.

You are power. You are the heir of the greatest empire this continent will ever see.

Be human, be charming, but don’t let any of them forget who you are.

Fifty-something young adults, from teens to early twenties, sat organized in two rows of low tables positioned along the fire pits, where the empire’s finest cooks sweated over sizzling meats and seasoned stews.

Delicacies brought from every corner of the empire, expertly crafted concoctions of flavors served on golden plates.

How far the Rong dynasty had come since impoverished winters and being bullied by the southern warlords.

Without the supervision of parents, the air was light, the conversation abundant, and the laughter louder. However, this was not an innocent gathering. This was a game of power.

Siwang sat at the head of the formation, atop a dais that elevated him above the rest of us.

The girls threw longing looks, and so did the men. His favor was what they all sought. A prize more precious than even the Beiying tiger. And the closer someone sat to Siwang, the higher they were in this hierarchy.

“How do you like the food, Fei?” Siwang asked. While the room watched him, his eyes were on me, seated at the table to his immediateleft.

I stopped pushing the thin cuts of cabbage and mutton around the plate and forced a sweet smile for him.

My stomach was nauseated with nerves, and the only things that looked appetizing were the lamb skewers being smoked over the fires, sprinkled with cumin and chili flakes and drizzled with oil so that every bite would be juicy and flavorful.

My favorite, which just happened to be one of the many things deemed too unladylike for noble girls to eat in public.

And the meat didn’t taste the same once they were torn from their skewers and served in bowls.

The satisfaction was in ripping it from the skewer with my teeth.

“Congratulations to our empire!” someone cheered from farther down the tables in a naked attempt to get Siwang’s attention.

“Fulin is the last major stronghold of the northwest. All that’s left between us and the barren ice lands are a few puny dynasties whose armies are no more than glorified farmers.

Soon Rong will rule over the great north without contest!

And Your Highness will be one step closer to fulfilling the prophecy as the emperor of all emperors! ”

“The emperor of all emperors!” another voice cheered in response.

“The emperor of all emperors!”

“The emperor of all emperors!”

“The emperor of all emperors!”

That is not the prophecy, I wanted to remind them.

“To the greatest army in all of An’Lu!” Someone else raised his cup of wine, and more hollers followed.

I quietly raised my cup. It would be bad manners not to go along with a toast, though familiar irritations pricked under my skin.

What was there to be congratulated about?

Another city besieged and burned, with its survivors shouldering hefty tax increases to fund the emperor’s next conquest?

Had any of these men been to the front lines, witnessed the cruelty of war with their own eyes, seen how corpses littered those streets?

These nightmares haunted me. Emaciated bodies curled small against rubble where their homes had once stood.

I could still smell the burning of flesh as our soldiers launched fireballs over the city walls to destroy what remained of their homes and drive the already hungry and desperate into surrendering.

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. 白发送黑发 . 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 what I wanted?

“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 under our wing, 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 whispered something 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.

打狗还要看主人 . 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.

“It is truly the luck of a lifetime to be able to gaze upon Miss Lifeng, with all her talents and beauty, Your Highness,” someone else added.

I wanted to laugh. What use was beauty? What use was any of this?

My gaze fell on the beautiful girls attending this feast, all dressed in intricately embroidered coats, draped in fur, and adorned with gold pendants cradling glimmering jewels.

Some of them had drawn crimson marks of their own between their brows to imitate mine, and some had gone as far as adding tiny pearl beads to their foreheads to enhance their painted marks.

They coveted what I had, while all I wanted was a way to wipe away this mark like some day-old rouge and erase the prophecy from existence.

These visiting princesses and noble daughters were all here to catch glimpses of the noble sons, each seeking either the richest or the most powerful husband to advance their fathers’ and brothers’ paths in this world. Even those who had no interest in men.

Across the smoky fires, I watched as a man openly caressed the hand of a young servant girl with wide eyes and silky curls, while a woman with pinned-up hair who had to be his wife sat beside him in taut silence.

The servant girl quickly jumped away, and the man whispered something to the eunuch closest to him, then let out a leer so disgusting it made my stomach turn.

His wife wordless and stoic through all of this.

Forced to bear it all. He was her husband, and women without the protection of a powerful father or husband were treated as good as nothing in society.

No power.

No status.

I clenched my jaw so hard I hoped my beautiful white teeth would crack and shatter, become monstrous and sharp as a tiger’s fangs, and strike fear in the heart of every man who dared to gaze at me with wanton eyes.

I leaned back and waved over the head eunuch. “Don’t let that man anywhere near that servant girl. In fact, don’t let any of these men near any of the girls.”

He stared at me for a moment. “Such matters are not your concern, Lady Lifeng.”

I shot him a sharp look. “If I am to be empress one day, the well-being of every inner court servant is my concern.”

“Fei? Are you all right?” Siwang asked from his dais, brows knotted with worriment.

I forced my last smile of the night. “I’m feeling a little under the weather. Perhaps I caught a cold during the hunt today.”

He quickly rose to his feet, stepped down from his dais, and came toward my table.

The buzzing of conversations quieted, just a little.

Once at my side, he knelt down on one knee so we were at eye level and placed a hand on my forehead.

“You don’t seem to have a fever. I will have the cook bring you some ginger soup and—”

“No!” I spoke too fast, too loudly. The chatter around us quieted further, and I felt the attention of the entire feast scorching me. “I am fine. I just need a long night of sleep. Please don’t send anyone to interruptme.”

Without waiting for Siwang to reply, I quickly rose to my feet, bowed my head to the rest of the guests, and walked away.