Blood of the Fox

Chapter 19

"Yuezhen-gege!" Princess Yuting withdrew her power at once. "What's the meaning of this?! Why are you keeping this demon servant by your side?!"

"Is she a demon?" Yuezhen said in mock surprise. "She must be powerful indeed to escape the Jade Emperor and all the other high immortal's notice."

"Everyone knows that foxes are halfway to becoming demons! The are the most treacherous of all immortal races." Princess Yuting argued furiously. "Yuezhen-gege, make her leave at once! I won't have it. I forbid it!"

"Forbid it?" Yuezhen's voice was positively lazy now. "Forgive me, but when did you become the authority on who comes in and out of my house?"

Yuting drew back furiously. "Everyone knows... everyone knows...!" She was so furious that she seemed incapable of forming her words properly. "How could you choose this... demon slave girl over me?! I am the daughter of the Phoenix King!"

"Yes you are, I am well aware and believe me that is the only reason you're still standing here even though you're destroying my house and threatening my household. Or have you forgotten who I am?"

Yuting's mouth worked furiously as the servants looked at each other. No matter who she was, the Third Prince was the son of the Jade Emperor. When it came to ranks and lineage, there was no question who was superior. Ruyi herself felt a strange sensation in her chest. My household. Since the day she had come to the Heavenly Realm, she had never felt truly like she belonged anywhere. But now with just two words, Yuezhen had turned that around.

Princess Yuting however not about to give up. Instead she curled her lip and said, "Aunt always said men are blind in the face of beauty! I thought you'd be different but clearly you're just as blind as your father! Have you forgotten what Yunyang did, and how many people died because of her?!"

There was a silence after he spoke. Yuezhen's lazy smile froze on his lips and gradually disappeared, revealing a grim expression. The servants looked at each other. That she should speak so slightingly of the Jade Emperor... even if she is the daughter of the Phoenix King... But that was not what had made Yuezhen pause.

"Have I forgotten?" He asked quietly. "You are asking me, who lost over a thousand men, if I've forgotten what happened?"

Yuting frowned. "I..." But she didn't get to finish her words. The Third Prince continued, still in that same dangerously quiet tone, "And now that you've insulted me and my father, and rubbed mud on the sacrifice of a thousand good men, I think it's time for you to head back to the Fire Realm don't you?"

"Yuezhen-gege, I didn't mean it like that-"

"Please leave now or I won't be responsible for what might happen to you."

Yuting drew back. There were tears rolling down her cheeks. "You'll... you'll be sorry." She forced through clenched teeth. "I'll show you... I'll make you rue this day forever... both of you."

***

It was the first time she'd been summoned to the main wing of the Manor.

In the middle of the courtyard was an osthmanthus tree. As Ruyi stared at it, the memory came to her of the sound of flute music and the smell of blood...

"Miss Ruyi?"

The Third Prince's personal guard was a tiger immortal called Junye, a white tiger by the color of his hair and the stripes upon his cheeks. He spoke to Ruyi with strange politeness, almost as though with deference. Ruyi blinked at him, and he motioned towards the side of the courtyard, towards Yuezhen's private rooms.

"Sorry," Ruyi apologized. "I got distracted. You're sure his Highness asked to see me?"

"Yes, Miss Ruyi."

He lead Ruyi all the way up to the wooden door and rapped on it. "I have brought her as you asked, Master."

Yuezhen's voice sounded from inside. "Tell her to come in."

Junye slid open the door and bowed to her, a motion which made her feel quite uncomfortable. She walked past him and found herself standing in Yuezhen's study.

The Third Prince was kneeling behind a long, low table. All around him, in neat stacks, were an array of books and papers.

Ruyi knelt down and prostrated herself. "Your Highness."

"Rise." Yuezhen replaced his calligraphy brush in the inkstand and folded back his billowing sleeves. "I must say it's quite odd to see you so respectful."

"Why? Am I such a rude ingrate in your eyes?"

"Perhaps it is only because I have seen you in extreme circumstances, as you have seen me."

That certainly was true. "About what happened with Princess Yuting, I haven't had a chance to properly thank you, your Highness. I hope that... it hasn't caused any problems for you."

"Princess Yuting has been a problem long before you came. But she did draw something to my attention. You do have any training in martial arts or magic?"

"Well, no, not really. Not beyond the basic spells the other maids taught me."

"You grew up... in the human realm is that right?"

Ruyi bit her lip. "Yes."

She recalled the day she had first set eyes upon Yuezhen, how cold his eyes had been and how far above her he had seemed. Well, he was still far above her but somehow... the expression in his eyes had changed.

Yuezhen clasped his hands. "This is a royal household but more than that... it is a military household. From top to bottom, there is not one servant or employee of this house that does not have at least basic training. If you want to stay here, then that must include you. Here."

A book appeared in front of her. Ruyi looked down at it. It was a thread bound book with a blue cover. In golden writing it read; Fox Art.

"What is this?" She picked it up. By her hip, the knife that Rongling gave her made a slight tremor as though it recognized the book.

"It is the basic training manual for fox magic and martial arts. It's not something you can find in the imperial archive."

"I know. I thought, after the Demon War, that all the writings on foxes had been destroyed. Where did you get this?"

There was a pause. Yuezhen rested his left cheek on his long fingers. His hair, which was unbound, fell down his shoulders and onto the floor beside his waist. "It is from my mother's personal things. I suppose Concubine Yun gave it to her, they were always together after all."

Ruyi felt shock go through her. Concubine Yun was Yunyang, the fox immortal who had seduced the Jade Emperor and if the stories were right, the Demon King too. After escaping to join him, Yuezhen, leading an army of heavenly immortals was the one who had retrieved her, cutting a swathe of death through the Demon Kingdom. She was swiftly locked up but Yuezhen's mother Concubine Cai had freed her, allowing her to return to the Demon King's side, even though he'd only just destroyed the Panlin Forest and all of her people. As for Concubine Cai, she had been punished by being exiled to the Cold Palace where no one, not even her son, was allowed to visit her.

Ruyi clutched the precious book. This belonged to Yunyang. A fox like mother... like me.