Whatever this room was, Reyn didn't like it. The smell of incense was thick enough to make her eyes water, and she didn't attribute how strong it was to a selkie's sense of smell. Ymira and Huunaa were having similar difficulties.

    The room's walls were covered with fabric, which was about the oddest thing Reyn had ever seen. What made it infuriating was that it was rich silk dyed a deep scarlet. At every turn, the People of Jade seemed to be making a point of parading their opulence in front of her. Perhaps this sort of garish wealth might have impressed the Althandi of a hundred years ago, but it was only serving to put Reyn into a foul mood.

    Low tables, less than a hand off the floor, sat in the center of the room. Each was piled with more silk and more gold. Judging by Ji Min's manner, this was clearly what the Aleesh delegation was expected to wear when they met the emperor.

    Reyn sighed. It was too early into the mission to start pitching a fuss, so she decided it would be wiser to suck it up and comply with her hosts' wishes. Just this once.

    Female attendants, wearing elaborate robes the same shade of brown as the bald men, poured into the room like an invading army. Ji Min made polite farewells before excusing herself, then the attendants set upon Reyn, Ymira, and Huunaa like starving wolves coming upon a baked ham. Clothes were ripped off of them in short order and new ones put in their place. Reyn lost track of how many garments were placed on her just to be removed again, but however many it was, she didn't feel like she was wearing them so much as serving as a living coat rack.

    Throughout the ordeal, Reyn kept a firm grip on her amulet. The attendants were initially intent on removing such a plain adornment, but they eventually clued in on the notion that Reyn would sooner remove her own head than her scrimshaw necklace.

    Measurements were taken, and the women rattled off what must've been numbers to others. Their delivery was far too rapid for Reyn to follow with her limited understanding of the language. Adjustments to the garments were completed in short order before they were passed off again. Reyn thought she would've liked to just watch them work, because their speed was leagues ahead of any tailor or seamstress she'd ever heard of.

    There appeared to be a measure of shock among the attendants as they regarded Reyn's height, and more so with Ymira. The Altieri woman bore an inordinate amount of fretting, as it seemed the People of Jade were having a hard time accepting the fact that a woman could be so large and built. They took Ymira's crimson hair out of its braid, then wove it around a rose gold headdress. They tried applying a thick mask of cosmetics to her face, but Ymira politely refused. Politely, yet there was no mistaking that anyone who tried painting her face white was going to lose a hand.

    Huunaa, on the other hand, was the object of many excited gasps and delighted cooing. The attendants were positively enraptured by her pale gray skin and white hair. Being nearer to the People of Jade in both height and build, Huunaa had a much wider range of choices for attire, and she seemed to be taking a great deal of pleasure from conferring with the attendants through gestures over which items to select. From the look of it, more than a few of the attendants were already head over heels in love with her.

    The attention given Reyn was different than what either of the others received. Unlike with Ymira and Huunaa, no one looked her in the eye. They didn't address her in any way and remained silent while in her immediate vicinity. Whenever she attempted to guide her assailants towards something more simple— relatively— she was abjectly ignored in favor of the most gaudy clothes available.

    "They think I am Her Majesty," Reyn said.

    "Any idea what game they're playing?" Ymira asked with her gruff voice.

    "I believe the answer is fairly clear," Huunaa said. "Anthropology is hardly my field, but it appears they have taken that public pronouncement as irrefutable fact."

    "But why?" Ymira asked. "Not why they believe it— that's obvious— but why'd the emperor make a bonehead declaration like that in the first place?"

    "That will be among the first things I ask him," Reyn said, and it was hard keeping it from becoming a snarl. "The position he has put us in is untenable. Whether he wishes to parade me about until the real empress comes to marry him, he is mistaken as to who I am, or he is simply a daft fool lacking an ounce of foresight, I cannot yet say."

    Huunaa winced. "Might not be wise to say such things."

    Reyn grimaced.

    "Lady Huunaa's right, Minister. If I were them, I'd put a spy or two in with this flock of hens who knows a few words of Althandi."

    Reyn was aware. It would be an absolute shock to her if there wasn't a spy listening to everything she said. That was precisely why she'd said it. "Their emperor is forcing us into a weak position, and I am certain it is deliberate. Only a complete buffoon would believe Empress Enfri was coming, and as poor an impression they are giving, I refuse to accept that this nation would blindly follow an idiot."

    "What's his end goal, then?" Huunaa asked. "Why the pageantry?"

    "An ultimatum," Reyn said. "The Dragon Empress will accept his offer of marriage, or Shan Alee will receive nothing."

    Ymira chewed her lip. "So, what's that mean for us? The empress will never agree to marriage. A girl such as Her Majesty would rather slap a man stupid than let herself get bullied into his bed."

    "Perhaps we might seek clarification," Huunaa suggested. "What precisely does marriage mean to the People of Jade? For all we know, it may simply be a formalized friendship rather than the institution we are familiar with."

    Reyn hummed. That was an excellent point that bore investigation. It could very well be that Enfri could accept the emperor's proposal while maintaining her sensibilities of monogamy. Perhaps the People of Jade were as baffled by Enfri's reticence as Enfri was of them.

    Shocked gasps filled the room, and the attendants swiftly backed away from Ymira, nearly to the walls. The gaped in open-mouthed horror at her. Reyn narrowed her eyes as she tried to determine what the problem was.

    "Odd," Ymira mumbled. She continued belting on her sword and scabbard over her silk robes. "Guess they don't like weapons."

    "Pacifists," Huunaa said with a tilt of her head.

    "Ah, right," Ymira said. "Well, what's the point of letting the minister bring along the captain of her guard if said captain can't be armed?"

    "You can be armed," Reyn said. "If they wish to make an issue of it... oh well. We tried."

    "You'd abandon the mission?" Huunaa asked.

    "It will not come to that," Reyn said with confidence.

    "How can you be sure?"   

    "Do not forget, my ladies," Reyn said. "They approached us."

    Ymira smirked. Huunaa nodded thoughtfully.

    "On the other hand," Reyn mused, "perhaps it would be wise to play along with the Glorious Emperor's ruse for now."

    "Why's that?" Ymira asked.

    "May be fun," Reyn said. "I must practice playing the part."

    Huunaa blinked incredulously. Ymira pressed her lips together so she wouldn't start laughing.

    Reyn affected a higher-pitched voice, saturated with parody. "I think it would be ever so wonderful if everyone would be kind to one another."

    Huunaa covered her mouth.

    "Winds and storms, but maids mustn't make my tea. No, I don't give one blustering fig if that's what maids are for."

    Ymira turned her back and leaned on her knees.

    "Why, it's been five blustering minutes since someone beautiful fell hopelessly in love with me. I'm so depressed."

    Neither of Reyn's colleagues were able to stop themselves from bursting into laughter.

    Reyn shook her fist at the ceiling. "I'm the blustering empress, and I'll talk about armpits all I want!"

    "I yield," Ymira gasped. "Waves, no more."

    "Lady Ymira," Huunaa wheezed, "that was spot-on for Lord Bannlyth's rows with Princess Pacifica."

    Poor Ymira nearly died.

    It was hard to tell what the attendants were making of this unseemly display. In all honesty, Reyn couldn't care less. Let them spread rumors about how the Aleesh delegation was a pack of madwomen. The emperor appeared to have already decided on the path the negotiations were going to take, so anything that might introduce a mote of unease into his mind could only work in Reyn's favor. Furthermore, Reyn had another trick up her sleeve she had no qualms about using against the man's arrogance.

    In preparation for speaking with the Glorious Emperor, Reyn unshackled every tie she kept on her Voice.

    Soon enough, the attendants had the new outfits chosen and adjusted to their liking. Ji Min returned just as the finishing touches were put in place, and she ushered them out of the room while informing them that the Glorious Emperor was ready to receive the Aleesh delegation.

    Ji Min guided them through labyrinthine corridors, all lined with a staggering array of gilded artwork. Reyn had grown numb to the wealth by that point and endeavored to ignore it. Facing the Glorious Emperor while in an indignant rage would help nobody.

    As they walked, Reyn held out an arm to inspect the clothes she'd been trussed up in. It appeared that the attendants were aware of House Yora's colors and had put her in silken robes that were predominantly forest green and trimmed with silver. Not just silvered, but actual silver. As a result, the robes were uncomfortably stiff, but it was clear by now that nothing, not even comfort or practicality, mattered half so much to the Ku Dynasty as extravagance.   

    Interestingly enough, Ymira's robes were scarlet with silver. Huunaa's were teal and mauve. The colors of House Shrajevska and House Thaan were represented in their garb. Whatever else the People of Jade might've been, they were well-informed.

    "My man would pop his eyes out his head if he saw me in this," Ymira muttered.

    "I was not aware you were married," Reyn said.

    "Not yet," Ymira said. "Betrothed, to one of the Ulthred's sons."

    "Is it Lord Daston?" Huunaa asked. "He is marvelously handsome."

    Ymira blushed a little. "Lord Sennis."

    "Oh," Huunaa said, with a touch of forced politeness. "Oh, Lord Sennis. Yes, well, he's... um..."

    "Not so marvelously handsome," Ymira said, "but a fine man."

    "I was hoping to find a way to list his virtues that wouldn't sound shallow," Huunaa replied. "I mean to say, Lord Sennis is famous for his..."

    "His appetite?" Ymira asked.

    "For adventure!" Huunaa exclaimed. "Yes, that is what I would say."

    Ymira chuckled. "And you, Lady Huunaa?"

    "My marriage to Lord Thaan's youngest son has gone on, oh, I'd say thirteen years now."

    "Thirteen? Waves, have you many children?"

    "Four, if you believe it."

    Ymira gave a sharp look to Huunaa's slender figure that even the expansive robes couldn't hope to conceal. "I don't think I do. Is it hard being away from them?"

    "I'd call it closer to a relief," Huunaa chuckled. "They're certainly well seen to. The Lady Custodian is a marvelous caretaker. I must say, I'd never dreamed I'd one day know a gray dragon to be my children's nanny."

    "They have something in common with Her Majesty, then," Ymira observed. "I've heard it said the Lady Storyteller is closer to being her mother than her flesh and blood one is."

    "An accurate assessment," Reyn said. "I'm afraid Empress Enfri's biological mother was a horror of a parent."

    "Shades," Huunaa breathed. "I'd have never guessed. Such a caring young woman..."

    "Takes a right monster to mistreat their own child," Ymira agreed solemnly. "Often, it's those who are kindest who've received the most unkindness. They see the value of compassion. The scarcity."

    Reyn glanced back at Ymira. By chance she caught sight of a man running towards them, wearing a prisoner's smock and his hands bound by rope ties. Josy followed at a sprint with two Amethyst crewmen on her heels.

    "Ymira!" Reyn called.   

    The Altieri captain pulled her sword free of its scabbard as she spun to face Garret. The actor pulled short when he saw drawn steel in his path, slowing him just enough for Josy to take him to the ground with a tackle from behind.

    Ji Min let out a strangled shriek and threw herself against Reyn, burying her veiled face against her shoulder. Reyn put an arm around the executor and shielded her from the scuffle.

    "Josy?" Reyn exclaimed, breathless from the unexpectedness of it all. "What is the meaning of this?"

    With her gauntleted fist pulled back to deliver a blow to the back of Garret's skull, Josy looked up as if she hadn't noticed Reyn until that moment. She was breathing heavily from the pursuit, and a look of consuming rage slowly faded from her eyes.

    "What in the name of the king are you wearing, Legs?"

    Reyn's eyes widened, incensed. "Gods, ya betta tossin excuse!"

    Josy blinked at her dialect before getting a contrite look. "Scumbag got away from us. No worry. Back in hand."

    Ymira returned her sword to her hip. "I think the minister's wondering why you lot are in the palace. Weren't you taken somewhere else?"

    "Just a different courtyard after they dropped you three off," Josy explained. She let the armsmen help her haul Garret to his feet. "They kept trying to pull me away from this scumbag, and the piece of dung took the chance their meddling gave him. Headbutted one of those bald attendants and made a break for it. There was enough People of Jade around that he got a bit of a head start before we could push our way through. Led us on a good chase across half this palace."

    As Josy gave her explanation, a group of Jade Empire soldiers in brown uniforms and billed caps came in an orderly— and unconcerned— trot. They were armed with those odd spears, and on closer inspection, Reyn saw that the weapons didn't have spearheads; the iron tips were blunted. What they intended to do if it came time to use them was hard to say. Regardless, they held the weapons to their shoulders and pointed them at Garret as they formed an orderly formation.

    Ymira was giving the soldiers a displeased frown as if she wanted to bellow at them for taking their sweet time while there was a dangerous psychotic on the loose.

    Josy pursed her lips as she looked the soldiers over. "Thanks for the assist, fellas," she muttered.

    "They do not understand you," Reyn said. "Your sarcasm is wasted."

    "S'alright. I have plenty to spare."

    "Leave off, pet," Garret snarled as he struggled against Josy's grip on him. "We don't want to be here. Fell place."

    Josy twisted his arm until he howled. "Shut your mouth. That was the last chance you'll get to escape. You're not going anywhere without me."

    Garret gave her a pained smirk. "I confess, I've put a great deal of thought to the things I'd like to do to you when we're alone next."

    Josy curled her lip and shoved him into the waiting clutches of the armsmen. "Take him to our suites. If he gets loose again, crossbows." She pointed at the imperial soldiers. "You lot, do a better job this time."

    Ji Min, still shaking like a leaf and clutching to Reyn's arm, spoke in the Tongue of Jade. The soldiers stood with stiff spines before silently falling into an escort formation around Garret and his guards.

    "Sorry about that, Legs," Josy said. She ran a gauntlet through her short hair. "Won't happen again."

    "I should hope not," Reyn said. "This is hardly the sort of incident we can afford here."

    Josy nodded. "Understood. You... have fun, I guess."

    Reyn made a wry face as Josy trotted off after Garret. All the while, Garret ranted. His voice grew more distant as he was taken down the corridors.

    "Wretches!" he shouted. "Can't you smell it? This place is evil! These foreigners look all familiar and friendly, but that's how they get you. That's how they get you!"

    "Bastard has no right calling anything evil," Huunaa growled. She turned and raised a concerned hand towards Ji Min. "Shades, but are you alright, Executor?"

    Ji Min at last released her death grip on Reyn's arm. Her trembling was growing less, but she'd yet to regain full control of herself. Reyn recognized that manner in a person. She'd seen it before in others, mainly armsmen. It was more than just a delicate and pacifistic woman confronted with violence. She was reliving past traumas.

    Battle fatigue, Reyn thought. Gods, but the executor has seen worse things than I'd have assumed.

    "Executor, we need not continue if you..."

    "I am well," Ji Min lied. She fretted with her wraith-like robes as if she just wanted something to do with her hands. A nervous energy remained about her. "Our Glorious Emperor awaits us, First Minister. May we continue?"

    Reyn let Ji Min lead the way. "You have our most sincere apologies for this incident. I assure you, it will not happen again."

    "It appears the fault lies with the imperial staff," Ji Min replied. "It is our apologies that must be extended. In the future, I will see to it that your prisoner's guards will meet with no further interference."

    "Mistakes may have been made by all sides," Reyn said. "What is important is that Garret's attempted escape failed, and we have learned once again that he cannot be underestimated."

    Ji Min nodded graciously and said no more on the matter. After what felt like a league's worth of riches had passed them by, Ji Min at last brought them to a large set of gilded double doors.

    "The chamber for your acquainting with Our Glorious Emperor has been prepared," Ji Min said. "Before I present you to him, are there any further inquiries you have?"

    Reyn shook her head. "None, Executor. Save for if I am the only one of us permitted to speak to him."

    Ji Min's head drew back as if confused. "First Minister, I believe there is a misunderstanding."

    Reyn raised an eyebrow.

    "You will not be speaking to him either. No woman may speak to him, nor to his highest consulars."

    Reyn felt it clearly. Garret's sudden appearance had it frayed to the point of breaking, and now the last thread keeping her temper leashed finally snapped.

    "Of all the blatantly idiotic nonsense," she hissed. "What is it you expect me to do in this empire, then? Am I to merely sit in demure vapidity while I listen as terms are dictated? Essence of all spirits take this misogynistic tripe you're shoving down my throat. Take it and toss it into the gutter where it belongs. I am First Minister to Shan Alee, the voice of the Dragon Empress, and if I am not here to negotiate on Her Majesty's behalf, there is no reason to continue this farce any longer. Good day, Executor. We are leaving. I expect an escort back to World's End Gate."

    She didn't care if she sounded petulant and beyond unreasonable. She didn't care how unfair to Ji Min her anger was. Reyn spun on her heels and stormed back the way she came with her fists clenched at her sides. Ymira and Huunaa goggled after her before they offered courtesies to Ji Min and scurried to catch up.

    "Minister!" Ji Min cried, her tone scandalized.

    "Forgive me," Reyn snapped over her shoulder, "but I believe you mean 'Majesty'. That is what your buffoon of an infallible emperor declared, is it not? Be a good, little peon and submit to his perfection!"

    Ji Min looked torn. She wrung her hands right beneath her chin, looking between Reyn's rapidly diminishing back and the set of gilded doors. After a few moments of indecision, she hiked up the hemline of her white robe and ran after Reyn.

    "Minister, please!"

    "I have born enough insult," Reyn snarled, undeterred. "I will bear no more lest it soil my empress. Shan Alee would have liked to open relations with your empire, Executor, but by no means do we need to. Now, what in Hell did you people do with my dratted clothes? I'll not be seen in this vulgarity!"

    "Minister, you came as a diplomat!" Ji Min shouted. "Are you not to be more... diplomatic? These are our traditions. Our way of life."

    "Counterproductive traditions. Regardless, I would have respected your traditions, Executor. I would have respected your culture. You have your right to them. You do not, however, have the right to tread upon mine no matter whose lands we stand in." Reyn stopped short and faced Ji Min. The executor nearly fell backwards from the suddenness of it. With a furious light in her eye, Reyn offered Ji Min a deadly smile. "Or perhaps I am being hasty. Perhaps I should appear before your emperor. I need only prepare myself."

    Reyn let her human facade fade.

    Ji Min drew back from her, holding a hand to her breast. Her horror increased five-fold when Reyn turned around again and stormed right back to the gilded doors.

    Ymira blew out her lips before following after. "Waves save us. Glad I came armed."

    There was a part of Reyn that was weeping. The old lessons and fears would always be a part of her. Traumas left scars as surely as blades. However, there was a new lesson that she wanted desperately to learn, one given to her by her vivacious vampire.

    Ji Min was in a panicked tizzy, doing all she could to deter Reyn from entering. Ymira didn't seem to know if she should be taking hold of the executor or of the minister. Huunaa stood with a hand on her hip and bit her lip as she limbered her fingers in anticipation for somatics.

    Reyn stopped in front of the doors and looked up at their height. She took in a deep breath.

    "I will never be ashamed to be me."

    Reyn pushed the doors open and passed through. The room on the other side had the walls covered in scarlet silk just like the last one. It was a long chamber with a large fire within a steel brazier at the center. The flames burned blue and cast an oppressively dry heat upon the chamber. Reyn saw six men on the other side of the fire, three flanking either side of the center line leading towards the dais on the far end of the room.

    The men were on their knees, hands folded over their stomachs and their eyes on the floor in front of them. Still as statues and wearing extravagant black robes and tall, conical hats with veils obscuring their faces.

    The dais was enshrouded by a curtain of sheer white silk. An electrical light burned high on the wall behind the dais, throwing the figure sitting on the dais into silhouette.

    Reyn approached the fire, threw appraising glances at the six kneeling men, then bowed. "Ku Jun Seo, naneun insaleulhanda."

    Ji Min arrived by her side too late. She bowed nearly in half at the waist to her father and spoke out of the corner of her mouth to Reyn. "Minister," she hissed. "What I meant to say was, you will not be speaking. I will, translating your words to be spoken. Women do not speak to him. They speak in his presence so that he may listen to their wisdom."

    Slowly, Reyn turned her head to glare at the executor. "You might have said sooner."

    If a whisper could scream, Ji Min managed it. "I was flustered!"

    "By Garret?"

    "By you! Stop flustering me! You have no right to be so... so... attractive!"

    Oh, right. I might've thought about waiting until I was in front of the emperor to whip the Voice out. Spirits take me.

    Well, things were already off to a rousing start. Reyn had managed to misunderstand the basics of gender interactions within the Jade Empire— however, if anything was more obtuse, she didn't know of it— she'd called the emperor a buffoon, likely murdered the one formal greeting she'd learned, demonstrated incompetence for keeping prisoners in check, made an arse of herself, and to top it all off, stood in full view of a bigoted monarchy with her face out.

    Her gray cheeks started to turn red.

    Behind the dais' veil, the emperor spoke. His voice was loud and commanding, though Reyn couldn't understand a single syllable of it. She looked to Ji Min.

    "He..." Ji Min swallowed. "Our Glorious Emperor offers his pleasant surprise to be boldly greeted in our own tongue, however unpracticed."

    "You added that last part," Reyn mumbled.

    Ji Min neither confirmed or denied it. She lowered herself to her knees and made subtle gestures for Reyn to follow suit. Ymira and Huunaa came to kneel on Reyn's left.

    The emperor continued to speak, and Ji Min translated.

    "Our Glorious Emperor offers his sentiments that it is a gift to receive visitors from beyond the deep sands after so many years. For too long has World's End Gate stood closed."

    Reyn was starting to put together how this was meant to go. The emperor didn't address her directly. He just offered words into the open air as if he were speaking to himself.

    "Does he not care I am a shifter?" Reyn asked.

    "Minister, he does not know."

    "How can he not?" Reyn demanded, pointing at her face.

    Ji Min touched at her temple. "So much more I needed to say. This is my failing. I will bear the shame of it. Minister, he does not know, for he has not been told. Our Glorious Emperor's mortal eyes are blind. It is the ransom exacted upon the marked children of Ku."

    Reyn gestured towards the six men who still hadn't moved a muscle.

    "The high consulars," Ji Min said. "They sacrifice their sight as well. They accept the same burdens as Our Glorious Emperor. Upon appointment to this office, they imbibe potions to darken their eyes and bring them closer to the divine."

    "You are saying, us women are the only ones in this room who..."

    "Can see," Ji Min said with an exaggerated nod. "But that will change once the scribes arrive."

    "Why were you trying to stop me, then?"

    "There are protocols!"

    "Ah. I suppose I can understand that." Reyn shifted her face, finding some wisdom in being circumspect after her previous missteps. She'd made her point, even if Ji Min was the only one who noticed.

    Ji Min turned again towards the dais, where the emperor hadn't stopped talking. He apparently hadn't noticed that there was a whispered conference going on ten paces in front of him and rambled on without a care. After all, who would dare ignore the Glorious Emperor?

    "Oh dear, he spoke of the consulars. Extolled each so that you may know of them."

    "Give me the short version."

    Ji Min rattled off names while gesturing to each of the consulars in turn. Reyn already knew she wouldn't remember a one of them. The People of Jade had simple and strong names, but they were different enough from what she was familiar with that her brain was having trouble differentiating.

    "Executor, how does one go about asking a question of him?"

    Ji Min nodded to her, seemingly grateful that Reyn was actually asking how rather than blundering ahead at full steam. "I will pose it properly, Minister."

    "Why the announcement in the courtyard? To say the least, it is an uncomfortable position to be placed in. I am neither the empress or his bride."

    "This was explained to me while you were readied for the acquainting, Minister. A statement made for reinterpretation."

    Reyn furrowed her brow. "Meaning?"

    "It is an announcement that will be carried to the landless, the goodfolk as you would term them. It carries the weight and importance of the transpiring events while leaving them unburdened by high matters of state they are ill-equipped to interpret. You are the Dragon Empress' voice, you are her will, and so bringing you is tantamount to bringing Her Majesty. This is inconsequential to the landless, and so they are told the general course if not the specifics. The full truth, that which is wisely concealed behind metaphor, shall be reinterpreted by Our Glorious Emperor's executors for the true records within the Canticles of Glory."

    That explanation didn't sit well with Reyn for a number of reasons. She wasn't about to begin a debate over how concealing information from the people was a gross misuse of sovereign power, so she focused instead on the more immediate concern. "It is still presumptuous to declare Empress Enfri his bride. Your emperor's proposal has not been accepted. It has not been considered. The empress is already betrothed, and she has no obligation to the Jade Empire. In short, Executor, there will be no marriage between the Ku Dynasty and House Yora."

    Ji Min tilted her head before turning towards the dais. As she spoke in the Tongue of Jade, Reyn watched the blue flames within the brazier and wondered what the point of such a high-burning flame might have been. The heat was dreadfully uncomfortable in these stiff robes.

    "I have spoken your words," Ji Min said after some time, "and Our Glorious Emperor offers an alternative, one that will satisfy the pronouncements made within the Canticles of Glory."

    "I am listening."

    "The Dragon Empress is to wed the Glorious Emperor, however the Canticles do not state when. Or whom. Only the titles."

    Reyn felt an ominous sense that she wouldn't like the next words out of Ji Min's mouth.

    "If the Dragon Empress is betrothed to another, she may agree to name a female child of theirs as her heir. This heir will be promised in marriage to the Glorious Emperor, in whatever incarnation he shall be upon her coming of age. This will satisfy all the Jade Empire asks of Shan Alee."

    Reyn's lips parted. "Betroth Empress Enfri's daughter before she is even born?"

    "In our records, it is stated that this is a common practice among the Althandi. Her Majesty is half Althandi, so it is believed she will find the arrangement palatable."

    Common a hundred years ago, perhaps, and it was all but unheard of in the modern day. A previous Highest King— Reyn believed it was Cathis' grandfather— set new laws that lined out the rights of those involved in arranged marriages. Specifically, the inarguable right of the younger of the couple-to-be to outright refuse the match without consequence. Such refusals could never be used to claim a breach of contract when arranged marriages were part of negotiations between houses. Reyn had seen nothing to assure her that the Jade Empire had similar protections, or that they would honor those same protections if a Yora princess chose to exercise them.

    It was an offer Reyn didn't believe herself able to accept on her own authority. Furthermore, she was certain that Enfri would be horrified at the mere suggestion.

    Nonetheless, it was something to be considered.   

    "I will have to confer with Her Majesty by sending to discuss the matter," Reyn said.

    "As is expected and proper," Ji Min replied. "You will naturally be afforded time in which to do so. In the interim, quarter has been arranged within the palace for both you and your delegation."

    "One moment," Reyn said. "Nothing has yet been said of what the Jade Empire offers in return. Are you not at all concerned about what we want from the arrangement?"

    Ji Min translated her words and listened to the emperor's response. Reyn peered at the silhouette behind the silk, wondering just what sort of man the Glorious Emperor was.

    He's been more reasonable than expected so far, Reyn thought. Offering a future marriage in the next generation, rather than an immediate one, was more than I anticipated out of these people.

    She wondered if her personal feelings had tainted her first impression. Perhaps the only person being unreasonable in the room was her.

    Wouldn't be the first time, Reyn thought, ashamed. I misjudge Josy at every turn. I may still be wrong about Darian. I think Enfri naive and weak when she clearly isn't. I'm a poor judge of character.

    "Our Glorious Emperor offers that he will happily agree to holding Her Majesty's foe for the asking. He would do this as a mere favor between fellow sovereigns. For more than this, he says his esteemed colleague from the east need only ask, and he will seek to accommodate."

    Reyn blinked. Gods, but they really were giving over everything Enfri could want. "Her Majesty hopes for the reestablishment of trade routes between the Jade Empire and the Five Kingdoms. She is preparing a new city on the Althandi border in anticipation of receiving western exports."

    Upon hearing Ji Min's translation, the Glorious Emperor actually chuckled as he responded.

    "This was assumed," Ji Min said. "Trade with the nation of his bride is a matter of course."

    By bride, he must've meant the not yet conceived princess. The emperor thought of himself as both his predecessors and his successors. All incarnations of the same being. His statements had a certain logic to them, even though the concept threw Reyn's thought process into a loop every time it manifested.

    "Becoming the center of trade with the west will solidify Empress Enfri's position within the Five Kingdoms," Reyn said. "Would it be acceptable to ask that all caravans come exclusively through Shan Alee?"

    Ji Min appeared to ask for the clarification, and she gave Reyn a nod when it was received. "Trade will greatly benefit the Jade Empire as well. Our Glorious Emperor hopes that he will be able to acquire steam engines superior to those drawn from peddlers' carriages."

    That seemed somewhat frivolous to Reyn, but who was she to deny an emperor his eccentricities? "I believe that much can be arranged with little issue. The dragon partnered with the Lord of Emeralds has extensive contacts among the artificers of Irdruin. Theirs' are the finest steam-carriages to be found."

    "Our Glorious Emperor is more concerned for the steam engines used in aerial conveyance," Ji Min said.

    "Airships?" Reyn asked. "He wants to build his own airships?"

    "Our current armada is little more than fifty vessels," Ji Min reported, as if she hadn't just flipped Reyn's day on its head. "Admittedly, our attempts to recreate the grade of steam engine required for powered flight is inferior to what was salvaged from the airships of Lord Darian. It is Our Glorious Emperor's belief that what we cannot build, we may acquire through trade with Shan Alee."

    "What could you possibly need with so many airships?" Reyn asked. "Fifty is a greater number than the Nadian Sky Corps."

    "Yet still unequal to the task at hand," Ji Min said. "Conveying a large quota of supply and personnel across the deep sands will require many more airships than we currently possess."

    "Conveying personnel?" Reyn glanced to Ymira, then to Huunaa. Their faces had gone pale, but Reyn didn't yet understand. Or rather, she hoped she was wrong. "To what end?"

    The emperor spoke, and Ji Min translated. "As was spoken in lives past by Our Glorious Emperor's infallible word, the citadels of the east must fall. The rise of a new Shan Alee has provided the signs spoken of, when the Jade Empire may provide the final gift we can give to the world. Our Glorious Emperor, Ku Jun Seo, and his alliance with the Dragon Empress will bring a lasting end to the strife upon the Continent."

    Reyn felt her blood turn to ice.

    "The first and final war is upon us," Ji Min said. "The Jade Empire's invasion of the Five Kingdoms will soon commence."

    With the acquainting concluded, a large number of scribes bearing writing desks and pots of ink entered into the room and lined themselves along the walls. All women, and they appeared to stay on Reyn's side of the chamber.

    Reyn hardly noticed as a new round of ceremonies began. She let Ji Min do the talking. Her thoughts were trapped in a whirlwind of confusion.

    An imminent invasion of pacifists. Reyn couldn't shake the feeling that of all the powers on the Continent, the meek People of Jade would prove to be the most terrifying of them all.