Min sat in her spacious second-floor office, with the wide windows looking out onto the grounds of Morning Mist's capital city headquarters.

  The north-facing windows looked into the courtyard in the center of their compound. She could hear faint voices coming from there as Brother Stone led a class of acolytes through their exercises.

  Her front windows overlooked the busy street. The Morning Mist had acquired a large compound, suitable for housing a sect of their newfound prominence, just outside the walls of the capital city along the busy highway leading to the south gate. Wagons, carts, carriages, pavilions, palanquins, riders of horses, camels, mules, and foot traffic all passed under Min’s window. She enjoyed watching it go, seeing the lifeblood of empire. She had thought she was an urbane woman, used to city life. But compared to Taishin City, Varden City was a peasant village.

  Noren had arranged this headquarters for them. He apparently put a lease down for it when he’d been in the city a couple of months ago for his trial, a story that Min still had not heard in the detail she wanted.

  Their new sect grounds covered nearly four acres, with barracks for the lowest level acolytes, private quarters for the more advanced disciples, and an entire wing for senior disciples like Brother Stone and Joshi. She and Chang-li had a suite of rooms to themselves, with a sitting room for receiving company, a bedroom, and a private bath complete with the best lux devices to heat water at any time they might wish to wash.

  There were kitchens big enough to feed an army, which Morning Mist was resembling more each day, and a smaller, separate kitchen which could be used for preparing lux-enhanced meals from the meat of tower beasts or provisions grown inside a tower. There were apothecary workshops, rooms for sewing sect robes, multiple different libraries, everything a sect could possibly need.

  When she’d first seen the place, she’d expected them to rattle around inside it like dried peas in a pod. Instead, the place bustled with life and activity. Morning Mist had continued to grow even while she and Chang-li had been away. She was astonished with just how many recruits they now had. Most were former Brotherhood members out of Varden City, but by no means all. They had recruited along the way, and the ranks included people Min had never seen before in her life. And she needed to figure out how to make all of this work together.

  Chang-li had busied himself with their records, which was all well and good. He kept mumbling about just how important it was to the sect to have their licenses all up to date, and she didn’t doubt them. But the day-to-day business of the sect was falling, as she had expected, on her shoulders.

  They’d had a pleasant interval back at the secret, hidden headquarters of the ancient Morning Mist sect, a couple of weeks for her and Chang-li to study and train together and spend more than an hour or two a day in each other’s company. It had been lovely. Now they were back to the busyness.

  While Min did miss some of the quiet contemplation that had been available to her, she had to admit she thrived on this sort of chaos.

  There was a rap on the door frame to Min’s chambers. She raised her head from the account books. “Come in.”

  The door slid back. A servant girl, dressed in Morning Mist’s colors, entered, bowing her head. She spoke, her voice dripping with the clipped accents of the Capital. “Begging your pardon, Mistress, I have a delegation here seeking an audience with you.”

  “A delegation?” Min rose. She hadn’t anyone on her appointment list for this morning. Most people in the capital sent word when they would be calling on you, whether tradesmen, other cultivators, or politicians. This was a bit of a surprise. “Who are they?”

  The girl dropped her voice. “Their robes are black, and they have black pearls in a circlet on their head.”

  Dowagers. Min rose. “You will bring refreshments once they’ve entered,” she snapped to the girl, “and then you will absent yourself. I will serve our visitors.”

  She glanced around. Her study was a bit of a mess. She closed her account books and locked them away in her drawers, then shut the windows to block out the noise of the street. It made the room feel close and stuffy, but it couldn’t be helped.

  The servant girl was back in minutes. She bowed low and stood aside as the delegates entered.

  The first dowagers was a woman who appeared to be in her sixties, the other perhaps in her forties, though since all Dowager Pearls had achieved the Peak of Spiritual Refinement before being accepted into the imperial harem, it was hard to say for sure.

  Min cycled Purification of Mind and Soul to calm her thoughts as she prepared for battle.

  She invited the dowagers in and seated them on the low couches that stood on the other side of the room from her own desk. While here in the capital the preference was for the old-fashioned style of furniture, where you sat on the floor whether at desk or table, Min had always preferred taller couches and a desk she could stand or sit at. She liked to pace as she worked something she had learned from her grandfather Jiang as a child.

  The pair sat, eyeing her couches as though they might bite. Min received their names and stored them away quickly. The older Dowager was Lady Nightingale, the younger Lady Ohn. Lady Nightingale was clearly foreign, with a slight reddish cast to her hair and eyes more round than what Min was used to.

  Min served tea and refreshments and engaged in idle banter with the women, while studying each of them.

  At last, Lady Ohn set down her teacup, folded her hands, and said, “Now that we have enjoyed a bit with you, it is time for us to get down to the meat of our visit.”

  “Yes,” Lady Nightingale stated. “We are delighted to hear of the re-emergence of a charter sect from the past. Why, no one has heard of Morning Mist for hundreds of years. We could scarcely believe it.”

  Min raised an eyebrow and gave an amused smile. “My understanding was that our sect grand master had a very public and celebrated trial here in the capital not two months ago. Surely, the news of Morning Mist's reappearance would have been heard everywhere.”

  “Oh, my dear,” Lady Ohn said, raising his own cup to his lips but not quite managing to hide a smirk, “you must understand, the Gem Court does not worry itself with such matters. It was not until the Emperor himself stepped in that we took any notice of the matter. And then, I am afraid, we did not connect Morning Mist to one of the lost charter sects. It has been just so long.”

  “But we are excited to have you back,” Lady Ohn said, clasping her hands together and leaning close across the table to Min.

  Lady Nightingale spoke again. “It’s come to the attention of the Gem Court that you have several dozen disciples who have reached the Peak of Bodily Refinement. At least eight at the Peak of Mental Refinement, and four or five who are approaching the Peak of Spiritual Refinement. Is it true that Morning Mist has access to a Lux Well? That would go a long way toward explaining exactly how you have advanced so many disciples so quickly.”

  “It’s six, actually,” Min said. “Counting myself.”

  The Dowager looked taken aback. “I did not realize,” she said. Min felt a gentle probing as Lady Nightingale extended her will outward. Min answered back, strengthening her own will. While she had yet to begin truly exploring her Intent, her will was like iron. The Dowager retreated at once. “Fascinating,” she said. “And that might explain…” She trailed off. “No matter.”

  Min understood now. The Gem Court was here to make marriages between Morning Mist and nobles. She had been expecting it. “We welcome delegates from the Gem Court. As a cultivation spouse, I understand it is essential that we make more unions.”

  “‘Essential’ doesn’t fully address the scope of the issue here,” Dowager Ohn said. “Your cultivators who have reached the Peak of Spiritual Refinement must have a betrothal on the books immediately. Your sect may not be permitted to join any tower culls until that is remediated. It's in your best interest to settle as many of the Mental Refinement cultivators as possible as well.”

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  “Of course,” Min said. “We had planned on perhaps three months here at the capital. That should be enough time to arrange matters.”

  “To that end, we will be extending invitations to multiple Gem Court events to your sect over the next few weeks,” Lady Nightingale said briskly. “I have every expectation that multiple unions will result from that in short order.”

  Min's mind was already racing. That their disciples would eventually need to marry into the Gem Court was a fact of life. All cultivators were required to take a spouse from among the Emperor's descendants. The immediacy, and the threat of cutting off the sect from tower cults, she had not reckoned with. “I will be sure to instruct all of our disciples in their duties. Anything else?”

  The women exchanged glances. “You must appreciate that our position awkward with you as the senior spouse,” Lady Ohn said. “You have a conflict of interest between what is best for the sect and what is best for yourself here. Of course, any serious senior spouse would see the opportunity for marriage into the indigo, perhaps even violet ranks, to be impossible to pass up.”

  Min was confused. “We already have an Indigo princess joining our sect. Senior Disciple Joshi is to marry Princess Hiroko.” Were they worried she was going to object to that marriage? She was delighted that Hiroko was marrying Joshi. The two made a good pair, and Hiroko would be a boon to the sect.”

  Lady Ohn cleared her throat. “In most circumstances, a cultivation genius like Wu, who made an early and rapid marriage, might well request a dissolution of the marriage in order to free himself for a more advantageous match.” She set down her teacup, cocking her head to one side. “I can say with absolute certainty that there are several Violet and Indigo royals who would be very interested in a union with such a cultivator.”

  Min’s stomach churned and her head swam. Her hands shook as she tried to speak, but nothing came out. A second attempt was little better. “We — that is —”

  “We will be closely watching Morning Mist over the next few months,” Lady Nightingale told Min. “A charter sect must not be permitted to fall into mismanagement because the chief spouse is more concerned with her own selfish ambitions than the good of the sect.”

  “And are you to judge what’s best for our sect?” Min asked. She knew as soon as the words had left her mouth that it was a mistake.

  “We are cultivators who gave up on our own advancement in order to serve the Empire,” Lady Nightingale told her. “We understand what it means to put the needs of the many ahead of our own. A senior sect spouse who advances her own cultivation and neglects her sect duties is a danger not just to her own sect, but to the entire order of things.”

  “Fortunately for Morning Mist, the solution is already clear,” Lady Ohn said. “Princess Hiroko will take the sect in hand once she has married Cultivator Joshi. I suggest you spend the next few weeks organizing matters for her. Arrange a few dozen marriages and help the junior spouses settle in. That should be manageable even to your talents.”

  As if that weren’t enough of a sting, Lady Nightingale added, “Once the date for the wedding of Cultivator Joshi and Princess Hiroko is set, we will schedule the precedence ceremony. You’ll want to handle arrangements on that end.”

  “Precedence ceremony?” Min managed to ask, keeping her fury in check and her tone level. She had not heard that term before.

  “As an Indigo royal, Princess Hiroko will outrank any other sect spouse currently in Morning Mist. She will need to be recognized in her new role as senior spouse formally. It would be most appropriate if you have already arranged for multiple of the sect marriages so that the ceremony can have its proper impact.”

  Min had another of those twisting sensations in her head and stomach. “I thought senior spouse status was impacted by how long they've been a member of the sect,” she began.

  “Not when the noble in question is of Indigo rank.” The Dowagers rose. “We will be watching Morning Mist,” Lady Nightingale said. “Should there be any more questions about this matter, we will take more decisive action.”

  Min managed to bow her head respectfully as the two Dowagers left, even as she seethed. How dare they imply that she had put her own advancement over the sect’s. She had never chosen to pursue her own ends, merely taking what opportunities had presented themselves. Her own advancement didn’t matter.

  And the implication that Hiroko would do better! Hiroko, who had been raised inside the Imperial harems, who had as much awareness of the real world as a veal calf. Min liked Hiroko very much, but she was not gifted with administration.

  But that was still not as awful as their suggestion that Chang-li would be better off with a different wife, one with rank to match his talent. That cut deep. Min felt like the ground beneath her feet was crumbling away. She paced, watching through the windows as the Dowagers left. They climbed into a pair of palanquins carried by strapping young men in revealing costume, and were carried back toward the city, out of Min’s view.

  She did not need to be told her duty by a couple of washed-up has-beens. She knew what needed to be done. The warning was accepted. The Gem Court was looking at them now. Morning Mist’s unmarried disciples were going to need to be warned what was coming. Yes, they would need spouses, but she didn’t want them falling prey to the first conniving Gem Court noble they met. She’d have to watch over this personally.

  She was interrupted as the door slid open. Chang-li poked his head inside. “Are you busy?”

  “No.” Min shook her head. “Come in.”

  Chang-li entered. He was smiling and looked a little hesitant. “It took me longer at the records office than I expected. I’ve got tasks piling up for me but I just wanted to see you for a minute first.”

  “Oh wait,” Min said, as something occurred to her. “I hadn’t had a chance to tell you. I was put in contact with one of my grandfather Gao’s old friends. A retired inspector who spent thirty years with the Office of Cultivation and is living here in the capital. He’s willing to consult with us on our paperwork. I asked him to show up tomorrow morning to speak with you and said if you liked him, we’d hire him to help you get everything in order.”

  Chang-li appeared to consider and nodded. “That’s a good thought. I’m struggling to make sense of how the Office of Cultivation wants things done. What did the Dowagers want? Was it about Joshi and Hiroko’s wedding?”

  Min shook her head. “Not directly. They were here to tell me the Gem Court will be extending invitations to our disciples over the next few weeks.”

  Chang-li stopped dead. His mouth hung open for half a minute. “Of course,” he mumbled. “I should have thought of that. I suppose it can’t be helped. They’ll all end up with spouses one way or the other, I suppose.”

  Something about his resigned tone of voice nettled her. “Is that a bad thing?”

  “It’s a complication.”

  “Is that what I am to you?” she asked. “A complication?”

  “Well, you were when we first got married,” he said, raising his eyebrows and giving her what under other circumstances would have been an endearing smile. “Now you’re a—uh...” He searched around for the right term. “The arrow that breaks a thousand formations,” he ventured.

  She recognized the proverb describing something unexpectedly fruitful, but wasn’t mollified. It wasn’t fair to take her stress and fears out on him. There was no one else she could confide in. What she really wanted to do right now was go and spend the rest of the afternoon cycling, contemplating her intent. But the Dowagers’ words stung. If Morning Mist needed an administrator more than it needed another high-ranking cultivator, then she knew her duty. “A thousand? Hardly,” she told Chang-li. “Not compared to, I suppose, a violet princess. Did they offer you one of those?”

  Chang-li stared at her, absolute astonishment on his face. “What — oh, the paperwork — I told them I wasn’t interested.”

  She felt a surge of relief but it didn’t fully counter the knot of doubt and fear twisting her stomach. “I suppose it never occurred to me that for a cultivation genius such as yourself, a mere red-ranked bride was an anchor around your feet, keeping you from climbing to the highest heights,” she was surprised at the bitterness she heard in her own voice. She had tapped into a lurking dread..

  She should have seen it. She had met Hiroko’s father, after all. The General of the West was the greatest cultivation genius of his generation. Both of her grandfathers had tales of his exploits from when they were young men. And he had been awarded a violet princess as a wife.

  Fear clung to her. Now that Chang-li’s accomplishments were being noticed officially here in the capital, who was to say they would even be given a choice for much longer?

  She had met other cultivation spouses. She knew very well that it was not always a matter of choice—for the cultivator or a spouse either. When the Gem Court decided a match was required, they would make it happen. “You remember Li Jiya?” she asked. “She told us how her grandfather and grandmother’s marriage had been broken up when the Gem Court decided her grandfather needed a noble spouse.”

  “Yes, but her grandparents had both been cultivators. Neither was a noble,” Chang-li pointed out. “You are. Our marriage fulfills all the legal requirements. I already told them, and now apparently I need to tell you, that I will not be marrying anyone else. Not now and not ever.” He frowned, tilting his head. “What’s gotten into you? I can’t see you being seriously worried that I would set you aside for some Imperial princess. I mean, no disrespect to Hiroko. I’m glad for her and Joshi, but—” he shook his head—“I can’t imagine being saddled with one of those hothouse flowers for the rest of my life. Hiroko has blossomed well, but from the things she used to say, I don’t see me getting along with a violet princess.”

  Min felt slightly less worried. “As long as you’re not just saying that because you’re afraid my grandfather will have your throat slit,” she mumbled.

  Chang-li laughed. He crossed the room and folded her in his arms. “Even if he tried, I don’t think one of your Brotherhood knives would get through my skin anymore,” he commented. “You’re going to have to believe that I’m married to you because I want to be. Not because I’m afraid of your grandfather or impressed by your connections. It’s not even because your skills at running a sect match up so nicely where my scribing talents leave off.”

  That at last broke through Min’s shell. She laughed and laid her head against his chest, enjoying the feel of his arms around her. “Alright then. The Dowagers were making me doubt myself. They said I was neglecting my duties by spending too much time on my own cultivation.”

  “Well,” Chang-li said, “I’m not the one to make that judgment. Let’s talk to Grandmaster Noren, shall we? Joshi should be back from his meeting with the palace officials about the wedding soon. I think it’s time we all sat down for a talk.”