I shouldn't have done that head toss so vigorously, Snow thought, but she could not help herself. The commander's threatening tone and manner towards Erden and Weilong had incensed her. She was still seeing stars when she entered the tent.

Since the time she woke up, she'd not had the opportunity to process what had happened to her. I must have lost a lot of blood. How did I survive the cut? The poison? The last thing she remembered was lying on the cottage floor while her wrist bled out. She tried to recall more details but there were gaping holes in her memory.

Her father's ministers, generals and advisors hid their surprise when they saw her enter with Erden. "Who's that?" someone whispered. "It's the princess, looks like they've found her," another replied.

I'm not that unrecognizable, am I? Her legs were about to give way under her. Mercifully, someone brought her a chair and Erden stayed by her side, whilst the chancellor and the general stood before Weilong.

Her older half-brother, she noticed, stood at least a head taller than the general. How odd, I expected the leader of the Kingdom's largest regiment to be a lot bigger and look more masculine. The general's face was oval-shaped, gently planed and smooth, and his voice was neither masculine or deep, nor soft and feminine.

"Speak, Your Excellency," Weilong said, poised as usual despite everyone's attention on him.

The wizened royal court official looked at each of the princes and Snow. Despite his wrinkles and long white beard, his eyes were bright and alert. "The evening after your Highnesses left the Palace, the servants heard screaming from the Empress's chambers. When the guards got there, they found a terrifying, wolf-like beast smashing everything inside.

"Despite their fright, the guards had the presence of mind to bar the doors so that it could not escape, and summoned the exorcist. But when the doors threatened to give way, the guards slayed the beast. The Empress could not be found anywhere."

The Empress! Slayed? Meaning she's dead? Her mouth went dry when she recalled the Empress's glowing eyes, reddish fur and fangs. The image of the Empress transforming into her fox form was forever burned into her memory.

How? How is it that she could not return to her human form? In the torrent of jumbled thoughts running through her head, her last words with the Empress echoed in her ears: I wish the world can see who you really are.

Heavens, did what I wish for come true? Gods, what have I done?

The chancellor's voice brought her back to the present. "According to the exorcist, it appears that we had a fox demon in our midst," the chancellor said slowly, taking in everyone's stunned expressions.

"A fox demon? In the Palace? On the throne?" Weilong could not hide his incredulity.

"She fooled us all. For so many years. And we only discovered after so many had perished, and only after she brought the Kingdom to near ruination," the Chancellor said solemnly.

"Wait, if the Empress was a fox demon, what does that make the Crown Prince? Where is he?" Erden asked.

"Good question, Your Highness. We don't know what or where he is, but we believe he had fled the Palace together with some of the Empress's men.

"We caught her eunuch destroying items in her bedchambers. I was told it was full of herbs and animal parts and all manners of poisons. Thankfully, some manuals for poison were recovered from the coal brazier.

"Under... severe questioning, her eunuch confessed to a host of crimes. Kidnapping, murder, bribery" – he inhaled audibly – "ordering for the princess to be assassinated, and for the assassin himself to be disposed of, amongst others. We're still trying to determine whether he or the Empress had anything to do with the Emperor's premature passing."

Everyone slowly turned to look at Commander Tai, who stood by the entrance, flanked by the general's men. He fell to his knees. "Your Highnesses, your humble servant was not part of such schemes! I was merely following orders and carrying out the warrant for arrest," he said with a tremor in his voice.

"Commander, you were promoted to your position by the Empress. The court judge will decide whether you were innocent of other crimes." General Liang gestured for him to be taken away, and everyone watched as the commander was dragged out of the tent.

Part of Snow wanted to delight in his comeuppance, but a part of her also felt sympathy for the once proud and imposing officer. She was nearly in the same position not too long ago. If I had not wished death upon the Empress... She pushed such thoughts out of her mind. So what happens now? The Empress is dead, the Crown Prince has fled, that leaves...

"Chancellor Han, you may continue," the general said.

The old advisor raised his fist and palm in salute towards Weilong. "Your Highness, I have served the dragon throne for many years, from your grandfather's time, your father's reign, till now. There has not been a power vacuum like this in recent history; there was always a successor handpicked by the emperor. But if we look back at past dynasties, there have been instances where a new emperor was selected from amongst the princes by the ministers.

"Your Highness is the firstborn son of Empress Lana; on that basis alone, the selection is crystal clear. But on top of that, if I may be so bold to say this... the Emperor saw a great leader in you, and recognized your love for the Kingdom and its people. We, the council, are of the view that there is no better choice, Your Majesty."

That's right, Brother is the most qualified of the princes to succeed father! Snow could not help beaming with pride for her older half-brother. At the same time, Snow also understood that the burden he would carry on his shoulders from now on was an extremely heavy one. Still, it was better than having the Crown Prince on the dragon throne; he would have made a heartless, self-serving, tyrannical emperor.

The general got down on one knee before Weilong and the soldiers in the tent followed suit. "Your Highness, for the last two decades, I have fought in the Kingdom's army, and had the privilege of battling alongside the Emperor, during the War in the West. I can say with all assurance, that your father was the only ruler I knew to care deeply for his soldiers, and gave due recognition to merit and martial skill.

"My only regret was that I could not protect him when I was sent away to the southern border." The general detached the sword from their belt and held it out before Weilong. "This humble servant would be honored to serve his son. My sword is yours, Your Majesty."

***

Snow laid back on her cot and heaved a loud sigh of contentment. "I've not eaten so much in such a long time!"

Erden looked sideways at her from his cot. "You must have been so hungry. You wolfed your food down so quickly even the general smiled. And I hear she hardly smiles."

"She did? Hey, why didn't you tell me the general is a woman?"

"Why is that such a surprise? Women have always fought in the army. Ah, I'm so tired!" He stretched his arms above his head.

Snow had almost gasped aloud when General Liang removed her helmet. Unlike the men who had to shave the front of their heads, the general had a full head of long, dark hair streaked with silver at the temples.

Snow had stared at her in awe. The famous general who won countless battles and crushed our enemies in the west, and whose name sparked fear and admiration in the hearts of our troops, is a woman?

If I could go back in time I'd have a word with my old nanny. Wait till I badger Master Li about this.

Her mind wandered back to the very late dinner of steaming hot rice, grilled meats and belly warming chicken soup. She was so ravenous that she had forgotten her table manners, and did not stop shoveling rice into her mouth even when the general and the chancellor asked, out of curiosity, how and where the princes found her.

Snow had listened as Erden and Weilong said that they merely followed Erden's suggestion to search Tiger Ear Mountain, and that Snow had been hiding at the dwarves' cottage for the past year. The princes made no mention that they initially found her lying in a coffin as if dead, or that she somehow came back to life despite grievous injuries.

Snow had so many questions of her own for the general but before she could open her mouth, the general had to leave to check on her regiment. In between her mouthfuls of food, she had stared at the Qilin embroidered on the general's rank badge, and felt something stirring in the back of her mind, like something important that she should remember, but just could not. She was somehow reminded of her dear Chow Chow, though it was long dead, and totally unrelated to the Qilin. My sweet dog, why do I think of you now?

She was snapped out of her reverie when the flap of the tent lifted up and Weilong entered. Erden rose to his feet and Snow sat upright on her cot.

"Your Majes–," Erden started to say before Weilong held up his hand.

"You can call me that after my coronation. Right now, I just want to enjoy my last few hours of normalcy, if you can call it that."

Erden broke into a wide smile. "Brother! I'm so happy for you!" They embraced, before parting to look at each other's beaming faces with their arms still around each other.

Snow could not remember the last time she saw Weilong smile without reservation like that. Maybe it was because they had just gone through a harrowing time together, or because of his impending ascension to the throne, Weilong did something that Snow never expected. His arm moved up Erden's back to wrap around his shoulders, and in a second, had Erden in a headlock.

"You! You nearly got us all killed!" he said, ruffling Erden's hair.

Snow laughed heartily until tears formed in her eyes. She thought she'd never see them engage in such childhood horseplay again, and after the day's events, she needed a good laugh.

"I still can't believe how we got out of that situation unscathed." Weilong released a grinning Erden with mussed hair, before gesturing at Snow. "You and your mouth, sister! Such language! I was so afraid that the commander was going to slap you."

"I'll slap him back if he does!" Snow replied with fire in her eyes.

Weilong tried to give her an admonishing look, but the corners of his mouth tugged upwards in a smile. "I'm so glad you're with us, sister," he said, with a tenderness she never knew he had.

She returned his smile. "I'm glad the two of you came looking for me."

"You sure you don't want your own tent?"

"Thank you, Brother, but I want to stay here. I don't want to sleep alone."

"Even if it's on the ground?"

"After sleeping on a hard wooden floor for the past year, this is a luxury," she said with a wry smile.

Weilong's gaze grew intense. He sat on Erden's cot across from her and his eyes darted to the flap of the tent, where his newly appointed personal guard stood watch outside. "What happened? How did you end up at the cottage?" he asked in a low voice.

Despite the late hour, at his prompting, Snow told them nearly everything that happened – from the time the huntsman led her astray, to the time the Empress came to the cottage as an old woman. However, she omitted the part when the Empress called her a foxling, and what was said about her mother, as well as the snowy white fox she saw, and the memories the Empress planted in her head.

She did not know what the princes would do if they knew she was possibly a half fox-spirit herself, and she did not want to burden them with such knowledge. Though she felt terrible for not being forthright with Erden, until she had time to figure out what the Empress meant, it was her secret to keep.

"Second Brother told me you drank two bottles of lethal tincture."

"Really? I didn't know that. I thought I drank an antidote for poison."

"If you had drunk only a few drops, yes, but not the whole bottle! And not if you mixed the two!"

Oh, no wonder. They both looked at her with curiosity, but she did not know how she came back to life. Even the army medic had looked at her like she had sprouted another head. But other than the weakness in her legs and dizzy spells, all her other vital signs were normal, so he said nothing more after that.

"You're stronger than you appear, Sister. Perhaps the tinctures mitigated the effects of the poisoned apple. I've heard there are some herbs that slow the heart and breathing, so the person appears dead. Maybe your blood flow slowed too, so you did not lose too much," Weilong said.

By the time she finished her story, it was a couple hours more to daybreak, and fatigue had caught up with them. Erden looked like he could barely keep his eyes open.

"Rest up," Weilong said, settling in on his cot. "We move as soon as it gets light enough."

Snow did not feel tired at all, but laid her head down on her cot all the same.  She glanced around the darkened tent, still unable to believe that she was back in the safety of the camp, with the Empress now dead and Weilong as emperor.

She turned to look at Erden, who was already fast asleep. He's so handsome even when he's asleep. Throughout the night, Erden had stayed by her side, making sure that she was taken care of. The warmth of his arm around her made her heart thud faster, but that could not compare to the joy bursting in her chest when she first opened her eyes.

He was the last thing on her mind when she slipped into darkness, and was the first person she saw when she came back. And the way he embraced her, made her feel like they were like two halves finally made whole, like they were meant to be together.

All those months I spent pining over you, doubting you... She felt a flash of guilt for ever doubting that he cared for her.

Exhaustion finally hit her like a wave; whatever burst of energy she had fizzled out and her eyelids drooped. There was something she wanted to do but she just couldn't recall what it was. I'll deal with it in the morning, she told herself.

She slowly brushed a stray strand of hair off Erden's forehead and smiled. After all that has happened and all that we've been through, I'm so glad we've found each other again.

Author's note: This is not the ending yet, there's still another two chapters and an epilogue, and then we're done!