The social contract is a fragile covenant between the individual and the collective. How selfish is it, then, that we take solace in any perceived victories when it comes at the loss of our fellow human beings?

The flaws I saw in Oasis were neither lesser nor greater than the flaws I see in the Empire of the Sun, in the Free Cities, in the Northern Tribes and the Formosan Islands. The problems compound through time, exacerbated by human whims and dictated by a singular desire for more, at any cost.

Doubt haunts my dreams. Can humans truly embrace the discipline necessary for any good political or social system to flourish? Nevertheless, I must push on. The endless pursuit of a perfect system is my atonement for creating the SunFlower.

— Excerpt from the journal of Flangel the Wise

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Sanctuary

"Nettie wonders why Molam isn't at Master Ji's trial today?" Nettie asked as she played a warrior piece, then shifted her archer by two hexagon spaces. "Does Molam not care about the result?"

Molam smiled at Nettie as he took his turn, placing down two warrior pieces of his own. Both were within range of her archer, but the smile would make Nettie overthink about whether it was truly safe to take them. "Well, circumstances have changed."

The news had spread fast when the Eclipse had appeared. Or, to be more specific, it had been unavoidable when the Sunless day was clearly visible even within Sanctuary. Many had recoiled from the voting booths, fleeing into the safety of Sanctuary, the Priestesses once again trying to manage thousands of panic-stricken civilians. Tensions had risen further when the Whale’s Domain clashed with the Eclipse's, and the Oracle herself had spoken several words to calm the crowd.

Then the Eclipse and Tempest had left. With no one harmed or dead, and the only destruction a building that had already been ruined by the OutCast.

"Molam seems very certain of the outcome." Nettie placed a horseman to keep his warriors in check. She hesitated, then moved her warrior piece sideways to contest his own.

"I wouldn't say 'certain,' but I can say that this particular outcome would be hard to change," Molam said as he moved his warrior up a hexagon to threaten her cannon. "It takes a great deal of effort to change how someone feels. The moment they suspect you are trying to influence their feelings is the moment they pull back the other way. I wasn't entirely sure what the people would vote for yesterday, but today's vote should be overwhelmingly in our favor." An image of villagers grouped around a pyre for tribute came to Molam's mind. He dismissed the memory and placed an alchemist near his warrior, making it costly for Nettie to capture either piece. "People are willing to overlook the dead when reminded about the importance of their own lives."

His young opponent pondered him with big brown eyes. The earlier excited child's look of playtime was momentarily replaced by a serious look reminiscent of his mentor's. "Nettie thinks it could happen again."

"It could," Molam agreed. "But then how would they blame Master Ji? He returned to the City's custody yesterday. Anything that happens can hardly be pinned on him."

Khalim could speak all he wanted of the uniform application of law, but what did that matter in practice? Laws were upheld by people, and people were easily led by their emotions. In accordance with the law, the Sharks were holding the trial again today, but Molam felt no need to act. The very same people who would have voted for Master Ji's death had received a jarring reminder why the Oracle had asked him to be ZhiXia's defending Titled One. In many ways, this was the ideal outcome; and they hadn’t even needed to utilize the Great Sage's Mirror.

In Molam's mind, the result had already been decided. All that needed to be done was to go through the motion of counting the votes. Nothing short of divine intervention would change these results, and the Gods hadn't revealed themselves in over four centuries.

HuaLang Chamber had worked fast to ensure the story of how the Whale of ZhiXia broke free of his bonds to save his people was told and retold around free food and drink. Primrose had played an especially crucial role, participating in conversations as a witness to the Whale's heroism while she served alongside her Flower sisters. Madam Scarlette herself held a public concert with a flute, playing an improvised piece that supposedly captured the tense, suspenseful conversation between the Whale and the Eclipse that had resulted in the Eclipse and Tempest retreating.

Molam wasn't entirely sure how much of it was being played up, having been absent from the events, but he wasn't against any embellishments.

Even Shurra had made a brief visit to eat, scraping some of the leftovers into large bowls that she carried elsewhere. Molam guessed some dogs had feasted well last night, but still did not understand why Shurra had suddenly taken such an interest in feeding strays. Perhaps it was a Northern custom he did not know of?

"Nettie isn't sure what to do," Nettie huffed, bringing Molam out of his thoughts. The girl set down two pieces she had considered deploying, puffed out her cheeks, then sipped at her cup of juice. She pointed to his warrior and alchemist. "Nettie thinks Molam is preparing a trap."

"Remember, you don't always have to respond to my last actions if you don't understand what I'm trying to achieve," Molam reminded her as he waited patiently for her to make her play. The girl frowned over the board, her eyebrows furrowed in deep concentration. "It's perfectly fine to make a move that furthers your own goals instead."

Nettie glowered at him, then picked up a cannon piece, tapping it against the table. She placed it behind her archer, then put an alchemist piece in her backline. "Nettie wants to know if Molam thinks all of the planning was for naught?"

"For your last four turns? Yes; you're spending a lot of time thinking about what I'm trying to do because you're worried about what I could do. But when you play black, you have the advantage of going first. Even if it's just by one action, you should be focused on staying ahead so you force me to respond, not use your lead to try and box me in." He placed down a horseman, then captured her warrior with his own.

"Nettie meant the plan to save Master Ji."

"Oh," Molam grinned despite the flat reproach in her voice. "Well, we had unexpected turns of good luck. Many were already inside Sanctuary when the Eclipse and the Tempest came; if a fight had broken out, a lot of lives would have been spared. So, while it wasn't the original goal, I'm still glad we did it."

Another voice spoke up. "That's a very good outlook. Not all inventions end up serving the original use they were invented for. You would make a great alchemist."

Molam looked up to see Kalle. The Northerner looked exhausted despite having slept throughout the morning. The prominent scar across his face seemed paler than usual, or perhaps it was because of his missing beard. "Kalle," he stood up and greeted the man with a handshake. "It's good to see you again. And…" Molam raised an eyebrow, "you shaved?"

The Northerner ran a hand over his clean-shaven face. "I, uh, panicked when the Priestess said I may be called to see the Oracle later. Does it look worse? I may have nicked myself with the blade."

"Molam, it's your turn," Nettie tapped impatiently on the board.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"It may take me some time to get used to seeing you without a beard." Molam glanced down at the board and moved his warrior and alchemist, offering up his alchemist to Nettie. That should distract her for a moment. He turned back to Kalle, adding, "and I don't think the Oracle would give a lot of thought to your appearance. I'm sorry for what you went through in getting here, but it was necessary."

"Oh, don't worry about that. I admit I didn't understand at first when Head Priestess Cerelia came to me with an urgent message, telling me you wanted me to leave JiangXi City and head to ZhiXia City as soon as possible." Kalle looked down at the small orphanage seat, and tried to squat on it. He shifted in discomfort, readjusting his sitting position twice before standing back up. "Then the Tempest and the Eclipse found us as we were flying over the River Jiang, and that was terrifying. I'm glad GloomSire arrived to help fend them off."

"How is he?" asked Molam.

"GloomSire? He's completely spent." Kalle shook his head, then added, "Right. I suppose you want more information." Molam grinned in approval as Kalle continued, "He was the one who decided we should fly over the Slumbering Forest. That made both the Tempest and the Eclipse hesitate, or else they would have easily caught up to us. But I suppose GloomSire knew how to navigate it best, having lived there for decades."

"I'm glad to hear it worked out," Molam nodded, then looked down at the sound of a quick tap to see Nettie waiting for him. She hadn't taken the bait. Instead, she had positioned two new pieces around his warrior. After a moment of consideration, Molam moved an archer into position to capture one, then moved his own alchemist further into her territory, splitting it off from his warrior. It would be interesting to see how long she could stay cautious before greed got the better of her.

"Are we abandoning JiangXi, Molam?"

"No?" Molam looked back up to Kalle. "We never needed to hold it."

"Then why have me stay in JiangXi City at all? Weren't you afraid of leaving JiangXi with no one leading it?"

"Because it gave us an option to keep it," Molam looked down at the board. Nettie had finally abandoned caution and captured his alchemist piece with a backline horseman. "Bringing you back doesn't mean we're returning JiangXi to the Empire. As for the lack of leadership, Sanctuary has already sent four pairs of Priestesses to JiangXi to help Head Priestess Cerelia keep the City from devolving into chaos. She will have the Oracle's full authority, so the rest of the Dao will be able to get back to their lives."

Nettie's horseman was easy pickings for his archer, then he deployed an assassin to the space it once occupied. Nettie would most likely give it a wide berth and give up on his archer, but it would provide him an important route into her backline.

Molam continued. "I briefly considered the possibility of some upstart attempting a power grab, but no one in JiangXi should be stupid enough to be caught holding a position of power in case the Empire decides to retake JiangXi. And if there are… I'm certain Head Priestess Cerelia will be happy to not need to be the one to speak to whichever Titled One arrives."

His turn over, Molam looked back up. "For us, there's more pressing matters. The Dao has a destination, and now it's just a matter of finding the way. We need to prepare if we're going to kill the Empire's Prince."

Kalle frowned, then stared at Molam. "Are you still drunk?"

"I didn't drink at all," Molam replied lightly. "Mursa Shang served good tea at his caravan."

The Northerner raised an eyebrow. "No wonder I couldn't find you. And… what makes you think it's possible? To kill the Bloody Prince, I mean."

"The Oracle says there's no better chance than while he recovers," Molam watched as Nettie wavered between her Spear and Shield and the rest of her pieces. Playing a Titled Piece would cost both of her actions. In the end, she settled on her Shield, placing it on the board in front of three other pieces. Nodding to herself, she looked up at Molam before pulling her hand away. The Shield would nullify his archers and cannon. "The Prince has yet to wake up. I'm sure both of you would like to make him answer for marching on Techoria."

"Yes, but this is the Bloody Prince we're talking about. Butcher of Kamisukawa and Burner of Rivers?" Kalle crossed his arms, unconvinced. "I thought your plan would be something similar to JiangXi. We take advantage of the Empire's current distraction of protecting their Prince to cut them off of Cities. I'm sure Primrose would like to free Teljumaya, and the Northern Tribes have always harried Crescent City."

"It won't be enough," Molam answered, capturing one of Nettie's backline archers with his warrior, then moving a horseman into her backline to threaten the pieces behind her Shield. His handicap against her was that he couldn’t use Titled Pieces, and he needed to win before hers took over the game. "Say we manage to raise a relevant force, win all battles, and somehow cut off the Empire's trade and supply routes in four Cities — Teljumaya, Crescent City, and let's throw in Exabell and Falysos just for the sake of it. So lumber, salt, ore, and half their rice production. But then what? The Empire most likely has enough in storage to weather at least half a decade of unexpected disruptions. The Oracle says the Prince will fully recover in two years. We can't hold any of those Cities when the Empire's Titled Ones are able to move freely. That means we need to use these two years to make sure he never wakes up."

Molam paused to take a sip of tea before continuing. "There is a likelihood that the Prince extracted the SunFlower's design from Master Flangel, and even without that, the Empire now has Master Flangel's Ring." Molam looked up at Kalle, meeting his light blue eyes as Nettie pondered. The alchemist seemed queasy, but whether from the thought of the Prince's attack on Techoria or something else, Molam couldn't say. "Do you understand? If we don't kill the Prince before then, the Empire of the Sun will have the SunFlower. I don't understand how he's going to use it, but he believes it is necessary for him to climb the Stairs. And we cannot allow that, Kalle."

Kalle fell silent as Nettie began her turn, moving her archer out of range of Molam's horseman. As she mulled over her second action, Kalle spoke softly, "And how do you propose we kill the Bloody Prince?"

"Jade," Molam said simply. "The Prince is being protected by at least two of the Empire's Titled Ones. We'll need to forcibly bring them down and neutralize any of the Prince's abilities in order to kill him."

Kalle almost frowned, then seemed to change his expression to one of polite confusion. "You do understand a fist-sized piece of processed jade is enough for a family to live comfortably for a decade or more? Techoria only had enough jade to allocate a pebble the size of a thumb to its most prestigious Master Alchemists each year. Moreover, the size of the jade needs to be proportional with the aura you're trying to affect. How would you source enough jade to hold down not just two Titled Ones, but also the Bloody Prince himself?"

"The place where it's processed. Oasis."

"GrandFather said it was once his home," Nettie chimed in as she captured Molam's warrior with a horseman, moving up her attack forces.

"You want to go to Oasis?" Kalle asked with a tone of incredulity. "Nobody goes to Oasis besides the mursashu, and for good reason, no? I've heard dehydration is a painful way to go. Unless you… are going to ask Mursa Shang?"

"We'll have Master Ji to help us in getting through the Endless Sands," Molam replied. "Water is his specialty, which should make the journey simple enough. He can do what no other auramancer can. I don't want to know how much Mursa Shang would charge me to go to Oasis."

He placed a new warrior in Nettie's backline, then moved up his assassin from earlier, fulfilling the condition of four of his pieces in her backline. "You've been isolated," he declared to Nettie. If she could not capture any of his four pieces on her backline during her next turn, she would lose.

The girl leaned forward in shock, staring at the board. She looked up at Molam. "When?!"

"You thought my assassin piece could be ignored so long as it couldn't capture your pieces, but its other use was to give me a way to invade your backline once you moved your pieces to safety," Molam explained, pointing to the relevant sections of the board. "See here, how you took an extra turn to gain this foothold so you could play your Shield with confidence? That moved you away from your backline."

Nettie frowned. "Molam was not planning on capturing my Titled Pieces?"

"No, that's simply what I made you think I wanted. But you didn't play them early because you wanted to prevent me from winning by capturing two of your Titled Pieces, so I changed tactics to invade your backline once it became clear you were trying to play them safely."

"Poopy," Nettie touched the pieces closest to her backline, looking for a way to save her board. Molam left the girl to her analysis, having already determined she would be a step behind no matter which piece she moved.

Priestess Komura and Shantayla walked up to them, and Molam stood up to greet them. "Priestess Komura. Priestess Shantayla. I take it the verdict is in?"

"Yes. As I'm sure you all expected, the Whale of ZhiXia was found not guilty of criminal negligence and has been released from custody. He is heading to the Inner Sanctum as we speak, and the Oracle has requested you all be part of the conversation."