Accompanying the Phoenix

Chapter 17: Release

The ice and cold made the doors stiff and hard to move. Once opened a harsh blast of frigid air gushed out, revealing a cavernous room within. An ice stalagmite stood at each corner, reaching nearly ten feet high. Bound in the center was a spherical crystal ball of ice. It was completely clear allowing for an unobstructed of the woman who lay curled up inside. Her eyes were closed as though in deep slumber. She was clad in a dark robe while her hair was unbound in loose waves around her.

The sound of footsteps in the room broke the frozen silence and the woman immediately opened her eyes. They were bright and clear without a hint of confusion.

The messenger knelt on one knee and kowtowed in salute. "Your Highness. Your confinement has been lifted." He uncorked a small vial of blood and poured the liquid on the floor. This made the four ice stalagmites in the corner glow and the ice crystal in the center to gradually melt. After shrinking to half its original size the crystal lost its suspension abilities and plunged down, disturbing the layers of ice and snow on the floor. Heavy gusts of white matter fluttered in the air.

Shen Li needed his help to get up because her limbs were stiff from being frozen for so long. After standing up she brushed off the large flakes of ice still clinging to her body. "They sealed me in the Cold Palace of Atonement and dare to only call it a confinement?"

Like the temporal rifts in the ruins, the Cold Palace was a forbidden place, however there were two major differences between the two. The strength of the seal over the Cold Palace was stronger than the one over the ruins. But unlike the ruins which held countless entities sealed, the Cold Palace could only hold one. This meant that demons too powerful for normal imprisonment were executed instead of imprisoned in the palace - the space was simply too precious. In fact it had remained unoccupied until Shen Li's confinement.

Shen Li never dreamed she would be confined there. To think that an endowment of marriage was the cause of it. For the demon emperor to seal her away in the highest confinement, he had to have been really worried about her running away again. It went to show just how important the marriage was.

"So the emissaries from heaven are here? I have to leave now?"

He respectfully answered with, "Please be patient Your Highness. They will not arrive until next month."

"How long was I confined?" She still remembered the day she was ordered into her confinement. Back then she had not been told how long her punishment would last. While inside the Cold Palace she had completely lost track of time, a day was the same as a year to her.

"His Majesty has a deep and benevolent heart. It is now January."

January... so thirty days.

The gates slammed closed behind them. Shen Li looked around and saw a figure in dark uniform not far away. He came forward and bowed to her.

Mo Fang.

He spoke to the one behind Shen Li. "I will escort Her Highness back. You may return to your normal duties."

Mo Fang knelt down on one knee after the other man left. "This subordinate was unable to help Your Highness escape. Please punish me accordingly!"

Shen Li looked down at him, sighing just a little. She patted him on the shoulders signaling him to look up. "I know you must have tried until you were completely exhausted. You kept them at bay for nearly half a day. That was enough. It was my lack of abilities that prevented me from escaping. I was unable to properly meet your expectations."

"Your Highness..."

"Let us return home." Shen Li stretched her hands up to the sky. "I haven't been home in such a long time."