The entire cultivator encampment was in an uproar. Rumors and gossip reached even the noble quarters, sheltered as they were away from the day-to-day of the camp. Min received messages from her people multiple times over the course of two days, asking her a flurry of questions. Through it all, she walked serene, like the eye of a cyclone, her head held high.

Her grandfather had always told her disaster was just opportunity wearing a stained tunic. This was her chance to prove she had what it took to succeed him. She wasn't heartless. As word filtered back through the camp of just how many lives had been lost in the attack on the procession of nobles and servants up the mountain, she did feel a pang of sympathy, but she had never met most of those people, nor could she afford to waste time mourning them.

The other young members of the Court of Gems went about despondent. Her brother and Nima held a formal tea to discussed what had happened.

"To be torn apart by ravening beasts like that.” Shisa shook her head, "it's too terrible to think."

"Now you see why we have such a vital role," Nima declared. "Cultivators hold these threats at bay. If this tower is not culled, it will not just be a handful of travelers at risk, but the entire city of Golden Moon and the farmland all around us. Cultivators protect the empire. We support the cultivators."

"Besides," Jai-lin said, "this does give us more opportunities, doesn't it?"

The women rounded on him. Even Min thought that was a bit too heartless. He held up his hands. "Forgive me. That came out wrong. I didn't mean because of the tragic death of our distant kin. But word is four other sects are on their way here, and should arrive within days.”

"Really?" Min asked. "Where did you hear that?"

"I was assisting the Dowager Pearl this afternoon.” Her brother smiled contentedly. Min had swapped duties with him so that she could make her way out past the gates and have a word with Brother Stone.

Her brother set down his tea. "I think in honor of our dead relatives and competitors, we should perhaps consider the words of the poet—"

"Hang on," Min interrupted, "do we have an actual tally of who's dead and who isn't? They all returned back to Golden Moon City, didn't they?"

"The cultivators and their servants, yes.” Her brother seemed baffled by her interruption. "The surviving soldiers and porters came back up here."

Min made a mental note to ask Brother Stone what he had learned. By now, he would have spoken to any Brotherhood members who had been along on that ill-fated expedition. She knew he'd been working to get several of their people involved, and only hoped she hadn't been responsible for deaths.

That brought to mind Scribe Wu, who had taken a batch of messages down the mountain. She’d asked Brother Stone, who said he was among the missing. That was too bad. Min had liked his forthright manner.

"I have heard that they confirmed the Indigo Princess Hiroko was killed," her brother said. “Her garment was found, rent by beasts.”

The other girls let out a gasp. Even Min bowed her head at that. She'd never met an Indigo Princess before. They were as high above her as the sun was above the mountains. With so few of them, it was unlikely that another princess of her rank would be dispatched to this expedition.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"To send a Indigo Princess, they must have had some purpose in mind," Min said thoughtfully. "I mean, they wouldn't have just sent her out here to try to catch some random cultivator, would they?"

"You think she was intended for a specific person?" Nima leaned forward, her eyes sparkled with curiosity. "Then it must have been Young Master Feng, or perhaps there's another notable cultivator on his way here right now."

"Young Master Feng has achieved nearly the peak of mental refinement before the age of thirty," Min said. “That’s not particularly fast, but it does show a propensity for cultivation. His sect is growing in power, and from what I understand, not well tied to the Empire. They have a school somewhere in the mountains to the north."

"How do you know all this?" her brother asked, giving her a look that mixed admiration and amusement.

“We can't all be gifted poets, Brother.”

He nodded in agreement. "I suppose it's good that someone inherited our grandfather's business sense."

Nima sat up a little straighter. "All right. As terrible as this was, and as sorry as I am, especially for the Indigo Princess, this is an opportunity for us, don't you agree?" She looked around at the others in the room, who nodded. "There'll be more cultivators coming soon. With luck, before too many other nobles arrive. We can't waste any time. We'll need to find our targets and mark them quickly before someone of higher rank comes in and scoops them up. I say we work together on frame-ups. We can recruit some of the other low-level nobles in on it, to make it look more accidental."

"What do you mean by frame-up?" Shisa asked.

"Exactly what it sounds like." Nima smiled. "You find a likely cultivator, have a few too many drinks at one of the official soirees, get him or her in a back room quietly, and then arrange for someone to stumble upon you."

"That won't be enough," Min said wearily. "Not if the cultivator has good prospects and complains. Not for us red and orange nobles.”

"Oh, yes, it will," Nima said. "You're not the only one who's been spending time with the Dowager Pearl, Jai-lin. I poured tea for her this morning and heard all about her thoughts on the morality of young people and how it's contributing to the degeneracy of the Empire. How the Emperor's own family must be respected. Cultivators taking advantage of young Gems and then leaving them is, in her eyes, unforgivable. We'll have the backing we need. Some of these Dowager Pearls are very sensitive about Imperial honor, especially the ones who didn't have a child themselves," she added thoughtfully.

"How many Dowager Pearls have you met?" Min asked.

"Two, counting this one. The point is, I've heard stories. My mother spent time in a Gem court herself before settling down with my father.” She pouted. "Neither of them made it past the Peak of Bodily Refinement, which is why I'm here trying my luck in the backwater rather than at a more impressive court of gems."

Nima looked pointedly at the lower-ranked nobles. "Keep that in mind. Your children will be unranked. You'll be depending on your partner to make enough of a showing to raise your rank high enough to be noted. Do it well, and perhaps one of your daughters will be chosen as one of the Emperor's Pearls in twenty years."

The thought filled Min with revulsion. Besides, everyone knew the governors and officials who were in charge of selecting each year's pearls did choose them for their looks and connections with all corners of the empire.

Nima did have one point. As Red nobles, she and Jai-lin were in the farthest out layer of the court, and their children would have no rank of their own. It didn't bother Min herself. She had her plans in mind. Eldest sister of the Oaken Band was a much higher rank than Red, Orange, or even Yellow Court, even if it didn't come with the impressive title.

Min rose. "Where are you going?" Jai-lin asked. "It's nearly dinner time."

"I need a walk to clear my head.”

She'd need to speak with Brother Stone. There was an opportunity here for their people, especially if she could find a useful scribe who would be willing to help them forge a few unlimited cultivator's licenses. Too bad her last forger, Scribe Dai, had perished in the tower. She hadn’t heard yet what had befallen Scribe Wu and found herself hoping he’d escaped the carnage on the trail up the mountain. Not just because he’d been helpful to her; she’d genuinely liked the young scribe. It would be a shame for him to fall to such misfortune.