Three days of enduring whatever the Gem Court could throw at Hiroko had greatly tried Joshi's patience. He had done as he was told, whether that meant submitting to a ritual bath, standing in one place for hours while imperial tailors took his measurements, or performing nonsensical rituals. But his patience, little as it had been at first, was growing thin.

  The bright spot had been yesterday afternoon's meeting with Hiroko's grandmother. The delicate old woman, with skin like parchment and eyes that blazed with the same fierce intensity as Hiroko's, had been ensconced in a glass garden. Light streamed in through the panes and gave warmth to all the plants inside. He recognized almost none of them. The old woman had been seated on a stool in the middle of all of it, younger dowagers and servants coming to her to show her cuttings of plants or freshly plucked fruit and flowers. She ruled over it with a serene grace and wisdom. Joshi had liked her very much, she had reminded him of his own great aunt, the only female member of his clan ever to have treated his mother with respect.

  But that had been yesterday, and he'd had a full day since. Now, in the late afternoon, he was counting down the hours until he could return to Morning Mist. There was to be a reception this evening. Once that was done, he was free.

  In the course of his days-long torment, he and Hiroko had run into several more couples in the process of completing their marriage preparations. Now five of those couples were arrayed with them in a room, listening to a series of lectures from dowagers on everything from etiquette to the proper way to host a formal sect dinner.

  The woman who had been lecturing them on table settings finished and shuffled off, giving them a moment’s respite. Joshi stretched. He was sitting cross-legged next to Hiroko, who showed no sign of discomfort, even though she’d been kneeling in the same place on the plush rug for hours.

  The other couples sat or stood around the room. Four of them were indigo-ranked nobles and their future spouses. There was a single violet princess. Her betrothed was a man whose sect robes Joshi actually recognized, having had them pointed out to him on the streets of Taishin City. They were from an up-and-coming sect called Blossom of Wild Rose and were apparently making a stir in the capital because they were trying to win an invitation to the Four Continents Manifestation of Power, even though they were only an eighty-year-old sect. The fact that one of their members was marrying a violet princess spoke volumes about their capability.

  Other than that, most of the couples were forgettable. He had taken a great dislike to both indigo princes. One wore his hair long, hanging loose down his back in curls, and smelled of perfume. His hands were manicured, and he had white paint on his face, with an artful black dot high on his cheek, drawing attention to his eyes. His betrothed cultivator was a much more practical-looking woman who had given Joshi an appraising look when he first entered. She was from Purple Lotus, another charter sect, so he’d steered clear of them.

  The other indigo prince was betrothed to a male cultivator. They lounge against the wall at the rear of the rooms, standing close together and whispering frequently during the presentation.

  Every time Joshi had tried to have a word with Hiroko during one of the talks, she had shushed him, her eyes intent on the front. She couldn’t find all of this interesting. He would never believe that. But her sense of propriety was disturbed by Joshi’s ignoring of manners.

  Another of the ubiquitous dowagers entered. He didn’t think he’d seen this one before, but they all dressed alike, with either black or white robes and a pearl atop their braided hair. This one wore white. She strode to the front, vigor in her steps. She was fairly young, perhaps in her fifties, and she set down a stack of papers in front of her, then glanced around at the couples. "I appreciate your attention," she said, and the room grew silent, the chatter dying away.

  "I understand all of you have many other concerns here with your approaching nuptials. We have saved this topic for the end because it is the most important, and we want you to remember it going away."

  She cleared her throat. "That is: sex, childbearing, and your duties to the Empire."

  Some of the other cultivators tittered. The Indigo prince betrothed to another male cultivator, leaned forward, raising one perfumed hand. "Your Radiance, is there a point in my beloved and I remaining here for this discussion?"

  Her eyes focused on the pair like a hawk that’s spotted its prey.

  "Prince Inraal, the fact that you would even ask is a sign you need to be here for this discussion."

  The female cultivator from Purple Lotus gave a nervous laugh. The dowager turned her attention on the woman. "Or perhaps you would prefer to go into your marriage without this knowledge?”

  Joshi blinked. Just how sheltered were these perfumed nobles? Yes, Hiroko had been a bit inexperienced, but she hadn’t seemed to be completely unaware of the facts of life.

  The dowager picked up the top woodcut and held it up for them all to look at. The absolutely horrific image on the page took Joshi’s eye a moment to process. He saw the mangled limbs and dismembered body and realized it was an image of what had once been a human.

  "Cultivators are not ordinary humans anymore," the dowager said briskly. "As they ascend higher up the tiers, their strength, stamina, and capacity become increasingly beyond any normal human limit. That is why all royal scions are raised nearly to the Peak of Bodily Refinement before their marriage."

  "Any of you who have not already achieved that rank will need to undergo a final trip into the Emperor's Tower. Speak to your facilitator to schedule that. I cannot emphasize enough, if you have not achieved the Peak of Bodily Refinement, you will not be permitted to marry."

  Hiroko raised her hand. “Yes, Princess?” the dowager asked. “If you need additional cultivation time, speak with your facilitator.”

  “It’s not that. I’m just wondering, well, I have a friend who wasn’t at the Peak of Bodily Refinement when she married. She’s a red noble and, ”

  The dowager nodded and cut Hiroko off. “If she is marrying someone below the Peak of Spiritual Refinement this shouldn’t be an issue. Her sect’s head spouse will make sure she advances before the situation becomes dangerous. As advancing as a spouse is expensive, the Imperial purse ensures all Violet and Indigo royals reach the first tier before they marry, as a sort of dowery.”

  Hiroko lowered her hand to her lap, looking a little unsettled. Joshi couldn’t blame her, as the dowager held up another, even more horrific woodcut. He hadn’t realized the threat, but of course Hiroko was at the Peak of Mental Refinement. Besides, he prided himself on his command of his own body. He knew how to touch a woman to bring only pleasure, not pain.

  "After you marry, it is the duty of your spouse’s sect to allow you to continue cultivating at a level that will keep you safe. Generally speaking, a difference of no more than three tiers is considered safe. The Peak of Bodily Refinement will protect you, as long as you do not neglect your own cycling and maintain lux in your core as much as possible until your spouse has reached the Lux Endowment. Should any of you be fortunate enough to have a spouse achieve such a glorious rank, you’ll need to increase your own cultivation."

  Joshi managed to conceal a smirk. The others were nodding. He wasn’t sure what ranks the cultivators had achieved. The woman from Purple Lotus felt like a Spiritual Refinement cultivator to him, while the man from Blossom of Wild Rose might be approaching Lux Endowment, but he couldn’t be certain without using his will against theirs. Which would be rude, and cause for a fight. He was behaving himself here. For a few more hours, at least.

  "In the very rare case that your spouse manages to attain Lux Embodiment, however, things change drastically. The realities of sexual congress with a person whose body has been remade with lux are not always apparent. At that point, your spouse will have greater control over his or her own bodily functions and will, paradoxically, be less threatening during intimacy. However, at that point, childbearing will become either impossible or very dangerous for you, depending on your gender."

  That got a nervous laugh around the room. Joshi felt his ears redden. Childbearing… he’d been so busy worrying about marriage, he hadn’t spent any time thinking what came next. Of course he wanted children with Hiroko. Any able-bodied Darwur warrior wanted heirs, sons to fight at his back and daughters to grace his life. Why should it be any different for a cultivator. Only suddenly imagining those children as Hiroko’s children made everything more real. He didn’t dare look at her.

  The dowager went on. “Ordinary male humans cannot impregnate a female Lux Embodiment cultivator. It’s not entirely understood why, but the assumption is that the female womb is altered by the Lux Embodiment transformation. That is why we advise all cultivator couples to conclude their childbearing before they reach that point."

  Most of the couples looked bored, though the female cultivator from Purple Lotus was frowning to herself and glancing sideways at her betrothed. She wasn’t at Lux Embodiment yet; Joshi thought she was close to reaching Lux Endowment. Cultivators were always looking at their next steps. To be told she must either delay her cultivation or perhaps never have a child might be a hard blow.

  “Male cultivators who reach Lux Embodiment must take care with their partners. Impregnating a woman who is not at least at the Peak of Spiritual Refinement can present severe hazards to the mother and child both.”

  Did Chang-li know that? Joshi exchanged a quick look with Hiroko, whose eyes were wide. Perhaps he’d have Hiroko ask Min. If they didn’t know, it would be awkward to be the one to tell his friend that news.

  And more than that. Joshi wasn’t at Lux Embodiment — yet. He could see his path to it from here. Chang-li had already made it; Joshi knew he wasn’t far behind. Would he and Hiroko be forced to have a child immediately, or not at all? She was looking at him, her eyes full of worry. He couldn’t guess what she was feeling.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  The dowager kept talking. “That is one reason every Bride of the Emperor must achieve that rank before she is taken into the imperial harem. Even then, such pregnancies are rare and dangerous. The Brides are supervised by expert physicians during their pregnancies and given special lux elixirs to help them. Less than half the Brides are able to bear a healthy child.” She looked proud. Joshi knew her white robes meant she had been one of those successful mothers.

  “I say again, we urge you to complete your childbearing before reaching the heights of cultivation. If a female cultivator is pregnant, she must take great care with her progression. Going from one rank to the next can have severe consequences. You must take this seriously. Each of you are about to be catapulted to the highest ranks of your sect, taking the role of Senior Spouse in some cases. You must understand how this impacts your duties.” She let out a sighed. “Now, let’s talk about a few practicalities of sex.”

  By the time they were done, Joshi’s ears were burning and Hiroko couldn’t even look him in the eye. Maybe it was a good thing their wedding was still weeks off.

  The evening reception was held in a room that seamlessly blended indoor and out. They stepped through broad sliding doors onto a long wooden porch running for dozens of feet in both directions. Steps led down into a garden with an artificial brook running through the place, crossed by four small red-painted arching bridges wide enough for a couple to stroll arm in arm. Low trees spread branches just thick enough to make the whole thing feel like a roof. Tiny lights wrapped up the trunks of the trees and along their branches. As the light dimmed to twilight, it was as though a mass of stars had been caught beneath the overhanging boughs. Servers passed silently through the garden, carrying trays of exquisite food and drink.

  At the far end, a rough rock wall framed in the garden. Water cascaded down the wall to form the head of the stream. The wall leaned backward as it went higher and was made from different-sized pieces of stone fit together without visible mortar, giving the impression of a natural hillside. Here, on a broad swath of grass, a troupe of dancers were performing. Their faces were painted white. They wore odd clothing, tight at their ankles and wrists, billowing in the leg and arm, then tight again at neck and waist. As they moved, streams of cloth held in their hands or attached to their clothes fluttered in the gentle evening breeze, changing the shape and outline of the dancers.

  Joshi and Hiroko strolled, Hiroko obviously not quite at ease tonight. They nibbled a few treats from serving trays. It was far too sedate for a proper party. Joshi had come to accept that the Gem Court would never host the sort of affairs he’d grown up with. There seemed very little chance of a drunken brawl breaking out tonight.

  “Do you remember the Gem Court party that you first attended at the Broken Tower?” Hiroko asked.

  Joshi had been thinking about the same thing, about how that was the first time he had seen Hiroko in her role as a princess, rather. It had been a shock after the weeks they had spent together inside the tower cultivating, depending on each other for survival. He'd grown to think of her as a friend, and if he was honest with himself, a bit more than that.

  Then he'd been forced to attend a Gem Court party and seen her there. Quiet, sad, alone, beautiful, her stature cutting her off from all of the other Gem nobles.

  “I remember,” he said quietly. “I am glad I won't have to be the target of any more Gem Court intrigues, now that we’re to be wed.” Hiroko clutched his arm just a little tighter.

  As they stood under one of the artistically trained cherry trees, the little twinkling lights and the blossoms overhead emitting a delicate scent, the gong rang, signaling a new phase of the entertainment. All of the cultivator couples drifted toward the front of the garden where the dancers had clustered together.

  Two dowagers and a couple of officials were standing there smiling gently.

  “Welcome, honored guests,” the senior dowager called. “Tonight is to celebrate your upcoming union and the joining of you all into the great Imperial Design. We will be escorting each couple in turn to the great mosaic so that you may add your personal gem.”

  Hiroko gave a little gasp. “Oh, I think you'll like this, Joshi,” she whispered.

  “What is it?”

  “It’s a sort of ceremony to welcome you to the Imperial family. Don’t worry. It’s not too complicated.”

  The dowagers consulted their notes. “Violete Princess Zu and Cultivator Chen Doan.”

  The named pair joined them and shuffled off as the dancers began a new routine. Joshi half-watched the show, but now the other cultivator couples were turning their attention on him and Hiroko. A couple of the other indigo princesses were crowding around them, their betrothed hanging back just a little but with identical looks of dislike on their faces.

  “We’ve heard you are a foreign prince,” one of the princesses said.

  “He is,” Hiroko said at once, her tone sharp and clear. She stepped just a little in front of Joshi as she spoke. “My father and his were battlefield rivals, with great respect for each other. When the war ended, my father and Joshi made common cause. The General of the West has given his blessing for our marriage, as well as the Gem Court.”

  She gave a little smile. Joshi had to suppress one of his own as the two indigo princesses looked slightly annoyed. He had enough sisters and girl cousins to understand exactly what was going on here. The other princesses were showing interest in him to rile up a bit of jealousy in their own betrothed. Hiroko didn’t want him involved in any of their games, and was establishing her own superior claim.

  As for him, it didn’t matter. It had taken so long to break Hiroko from the attitudes her Imperial Palace upbringing had given her, trying to even talk to any of these princesses would be pointless and frustrating. But their fiancés didn’t look impressed.

  “I’ve heard you’ve from a sect that’s come out of nowhere and claimed to be a charter sect,” one of the cultivators said. His robes were a sickly yellow and green combination that made Joshi think of the fluids that came out of internal organs when disemboweling an animal.

  “Morning Mist has an ancient history that we are even now reclaiming,” Joshi said.

  “Reclaiming or ’assuming’?”

  Joshi looked the other one up and down. The man was barely touching the Peak of Spiritual Refinement. “Would you care for me to demonstrate the strength of our sect?” He pushed his will and forced with just a bit of Intent against the other two cultivators. Both men’s eyes widened.

  “There’s no need for any of that here,” one of the indigo princesses said, while the other looked at Joshi with an appraising glance. “Let’s just see about being friendly tonight, shall we?”

  “When is your wedding?” another indigo asked Hiroko.

  They were interrupted as the male pair joined them, the prince and his cultivator betrothed with arms linked together.

  “I’ve heard that this Morning Mist sect is putting on a fete to honor Princess Hiroko and Cultivator Joshi’s wedding,” the cultivator of the pair said, drawing his words out and underlining them with a wink. “I hope we’ll be invited.”

  Hiroko retorted, “Our senior spouse will be extending invitations to all the notable sects represented here in the capital.”

  “Ooh, catty,” the Indigo Prince observed. “Who knew that wallflower Hiroko would grow a spine.” The others laughed.

  Hiroko’s face fell. Joshi realized that she probably knew all of these royals. They were her cousins, after all, and had grown up here at the same time she had. It wasn’t clear to him just how many violet or indigo nobles there were. The six couples here were all being married within the next two months. If you could assume a similar rate, it implied there might be forty or so marriages a year between eligible nobles. So she might have had dozens, even a hundred, cousins growing up.

  Still, that was fewer than members of his own clan, and he knew each of their names and backgrounds by heart.

  “Tell me,” he said conversationally to the Indigo Prince, “when is it that you hope to achieve the Peak of Mental Refinement?”

  The prince blinked, then turned to his betrothed. “That is, of course, a sect matter,” the cultivator said smoothly. “My sect takes care of our spouses.”

  “That’s all right,” Joshi observed. “You certainly won’t need to worry about that until your partner here has reached Lux Endowment himself.”

  He very deliberately looked down at his own hand, then back with a bit of a smile. “Princess Hiroko reached the Peak of Mental Refinement on her own a month ago, right around when I achieved the Lux Endowment rank myself.”

  The Indigo Nobles reacted as he expected, drawing away, shooting Hiroko looks of disdain. Joshi put his arm around her shoulders and felt her draw up just a little, little taller and straighter.

  "Hiroko is one of the most gifted cultivators I have ever met," he said quietly. "Her understanding of blue lux is at a level that still eludes me. With the nurturing support of Morning Mist, Hiroko will reach Lux Embodiment before most of your cultivators manage to reach Spiritual Refinement."

  With absolute, perfect timing, one of the officials came back, a flabby-faced man in imperial robes, one of the few men Joshi had seen here in the Imperial grounds. The man spoke, his voice coming out in a high pitch. Combined with his hairless jowls, Joshi wondered if he might perhaps be a eunuch. "Princess Hiroko, Prince Joshi, if you would come with us, please."

  Hiroko took Joshi's hand and squeezed it as they followed the functionary through a pair of doors on the side of the garden into an antechamber. The wall they faced was an imposing black marble slab with an opening yawning in it.

  The functionary bowed, presenting them a casket.

  "This is your star," he said as he gave the casket to Hiroko. "You will know where to place it. Enter."

  He extended a hand toward the opening.

  Hiroko flipped the casket open. Inside was a gem large as one of her eyes, a deep purple shade with flecks of gold all through. She held it up.

  "Look at it," she urged him. "Really look."

  He peered closely at the gem. It was lit from inside, a gentle glow. His eyes caught swirling within, like there was a piece of wind caught inside that gem. The swirling changed the colors, now slightly deeper, now paler, but always within the indigo shade.

  "What's it for?"

  "It's made specifically for us," she said. "When they took your blood and mine, some of it was placed at the heart of this gem. I'll show you what it’s for.”

  They entered the chamber together. As they did, the wall beside them closed, not by a wall sliding or shutting, but the opening on either side of the door frame shrinking until it was gone.

  Hiroko seemed unconcerned, so Joshi forced down his moment of panic at being locked inside.

  There was a pillar in the center of the room, taller than their heads, with a light atop it glowing. The walls were dark, the room circular.

  Hiroko walked to the pillar. "I've never been here, but I know what to do," she said.

  She touched her hand to the pillar. The light began to fade. As it grew dimmer, the walls glowed. Not a uniform glow. Tiny points of light appeared all around, like stars in the night sky, thicker and denser. The points of light moved, giving the impression that they were standing on a platform in the center of a great sphere as it rotated around them.

  Joshi watched particular points slide away and to their right.

  "This is the great Tapestry of Sky," Hiroko said. "Every Violet and Indigo Noble who's married has placed their gem into this tapestry, symbolizing how we are part of the Emperor's grand design. Look."

  The stars had stopped moving. Now, at the top of the sky, a sun blossomed, lighting the place without diminishing the glow of the stars. Around the sun circled smaller moons, each in eclipse.

  "The Emperor is the light, his brides are the moons," Hiroko said. "And we, as children, are the guiding lights he has granted to the Empire."

  She sounded reverent. Joshi didn't like how much she still seemed to buy into the Emperor's schemes, but here, of all places, he was going to hold his tongue. There would be time for political discussions when they were somewhere less likely to be overheard.

  "Come," Hiroko said, taking his hand.

  They strode forward to the wall. It again began to rotate, this time with the sun and moons staying fixed in their place. Now, Joshi noted that the lights were clustered together in patterns, with a paler-in-hue violet gem surrounded by a handful of indigo. "Families?" he asked.

  Hiroko nodded. "Just wait."

  The wall stopped turning, leaving a single violet stone directly in front of them. Hiroko lifted the sapphire in her hand and briefly touched it to the violet stone. There was a flash between the two. "This is the one my father and mother set here in their turn.” He could hear the awe and wonder in her voice. "Help me," she said.

  He guided her hand with his, and they placed the stone against the wall. There was a feeling of pressure, then the stone melted into the wall. Hiroko let her hand drop, Joshi’s falling away with hers, and they looked at it.

  She looked up at him, smiling, but with tears in her eyes. "There. It's done."

  She went to her toes and kissed him, then back down to her feet.

  He cleared his throat. "Thank you, Hiroko, for having as much patience with me as you did."

  She smiled up at him. "You were worth waiting for."