Blood of the Fox

Chapter 7

That evening Ruyi awoke as she usually did in the middle of the night. Ting'er and Jiajia were sleeping, Ting'er's back was turned decisively against her. Ruyi put on her outer robe and her shoes and went outside.

As she stepped across the threshold, she looked up in the darkened sky and saw one of the Jade Emperor's three guardian dragons flying through the clouds.

A dragon in the sky, peace in the world; that was what the saying said.

The paths of the Palace of Purity were lit with lanterns. Ruyi wandered slowly through them until she reached the lotus garden. A white stone bridge ran over the calm water, full of multicoloured fish flitting between glowing lotus leaves. Underneath the water she could see glistening pearls and jewels; just some of the treasures the East Sea and the West Sea had offered the Empress and which had to be kept inside a watery environment.

Usually she went to a pavilion at the end of the bridge. Sometimes she would read one of the books she had borrowed from the Imperial Library; sometimes legends about the Taishanghuang or sometimes the crimes and punishment recorded by the Record Keeper in the last millennia. Her favorite was about a Concubine of the Phoenix King who had raised a rebellion after he had reneged on a promise she would be his only wife and held him hostage, ruling for a hundred days before his soldiers had managed to rescue him.

But today she didn't have time to read. She sat inside the pavilion in a meditative position. As her qi flowed through her body, she tried to focus on her injuries. Each slight imbalance, when she used too much qi or too little, made her body convulse with pain and caused her to cough up blood.

Curse this place and everyone in it! She thought.

But the angry thoughts caused imbalance inside her body so she tried to dispel them. Instead she tried to conjure up a vision of her mother's face glowing above the firelight, tried to imagine her soft, calm voice. Ruyi my daughter... take strength... our blood is strong...

"What are you doing here?"

The voice, quiet and cutting, broke her concentration. Ruyi broke out in cold sweat as her qi spiked and she breathed slowly as she brought it back under control. When she could, she looked up.

The Third Prince Yuezhen was standing in front of her wearing a bemused expression. He was wearing his dark purple robes as usual, and carried a long sheathed sword in his hand. The bright moonlight turned his dark hair to silver.

"Are you a maid? This Fragrant Harmony Garden isn't for maidservants to play in."

"Why not?" The words came out before she could control herself. "I'm the one that spends the most time here cleaning after all."

The corner of his lips jerked into a half smile. "You are the maid from this afternoon. Are the maids in the Empress' palace so ill disciplined? Don't you even know to make the proper greeting to a master?"

Ruyi thinned her lips. But she shifted onto her knees and made the correct kneel, pressing her palms to the ground with her forehead following. "Your Highness, your humble servant greets you." She made her voice as monotonous and expressionless possible, while deep inside her, her voice of reason, oft ignored, said do you want to die?!

But to her surprise Yuezhen looked more amused than insulted. He said, "You have significant internal injuries. Small wonder seeing your personality and what you are. I'm somewhat surprised she hasn't killed you yet."

So even the Third Prince knows what a poisonous snake you are, Ruyi thought.

"The Fox King had secret martial arts manual; the Four Paces of Spring. With it he defeated my uncle the West Sea King. I was very young but I remember how highly enjoyable that was to watch. I don't suppose you know where the manual is?"

Yuezhen's voice was casual, light. But Ruyi had no doubt that if she indeed knew the whereabouts of such a treasure, she would not leave the garden in one piece if she refused to tell him. Thankfully she had a ready response, "If I knew such a thing, don't you think the Empress would have tortured it out of me by now? The truth is I'm just an insignificant, mostly-human thing; I know less about foxes than you, your Highness."

"If someone heard you speaking that way, you'd be punished."

"Yes, and what else is new?" But even as she said the first thing that came to her lips, she felt shame. There was no purpose in being aggressive to a young man who had never done anything, when she couldn't stand up to the actual people who had. She bit her lip. "I'm sorry your Highness, please forgive your humble servant."

"You might have started out mostly-human but that's hardly any longer the case. How old are you... one hundred, two hundred? Your cultivation has by far surpassed the average for your age. I suppose you have mother to thank for that."

She bit down the bitter retort. "... I suppose."

"Can you transform into a fox? I have never seen one in real life."

She stared at him. "Is that an order, your Highness?" It was certainly against the rules of the inner court.

His thick, straight eyebrow quirked. "... no. I was merely curious that is all. But if you don't want to, I suppose it makes no difference to me." Without another word he walked past her. After a moment she heard the sound of metal whipping through air with incredible speed.

He didn't tell her she could get up so she didn't. But after a few moments she shuffled around on her knees so she could see behind her. She caught her breath.

The Third Prince Yuezhen was practicing his martial arts beside the bright river. Underneath the fall of the dark wisteria trees, he moved back and forth, his qigong making him appear as though he was flying. His sword moved back and forth, at once deadly and beautiful. The sword dance of the Dragon Clan.

She watched him all evening, until the sun came up and the sky was filled with the chittering of rainbow and gold pheasants, singing the morning ritual songs. Yuezhen never again spoke to her, not even to ask her for her name. But the image of him was seared onto her heart.

The next day he left the Empress's palace, returning to his own manor. Ruyi was not to see him again for another hundred years.