Min sent Chang-li off with three members of the Oaken Band Brotherhood who were particularly good at letting themselves into places they weren't supposed to be and then back out again without getting caught. The young scribe looked miserable. That was all right. By tomorrow or the next day, when he'd had time to reflect on what had happened, he'd come around.

She was still amused at how quickly the scribe, who had claimed he would never get involved with forgery, had adapted to the life. All he had needed was to see it was the only way he was going to get what he wanted, and he had come right around.

The rest of her business should be straightforward. She gave a few orders, penned a few notes, confirmed with Brother Stone that he understood how critical this was, and then, as she waited for a few replies, sat back in the private room at the top of the Brotherhood's drinking establishment.

Sipping a hot cup of jasmine tea, she considered. Tonight's work was an investment in the future. Even if the second part of her scheme didn't work out properly, having two promising young cultivators indebted to her could only serve her well in the future.

Besides, she didn't want Chang-li getting mixed up with Moon Whispers. They were a desperate lot, if she'd ever seen one. The way Li Jen was trying to get Princess Hiroko's attention, the way Li Jiya was showing off for the dowager, it was clear that they knew just what kind of desperate straits their sect was in. She hadn't been exaggerating to Chang-li, but now she was curious. She penned another note to go down to Golden Moon City, asking for the Oaken Band's operatives there to look into the Moon Whispers sect a little more closely. Chang-li deserved better.

She flashed to the memory of the scribe inside the tower, facing down the enormous bird, the moment he had come to the aid of her and Hiroko. Hiroko probably hadn't even noticed; she'd been so intent on her patient. But when Chang-li had arrived, Min hadn't even recognized him. He'd been naked to the waist, a ball of flame in his right hand, and he'd had a sword in his left hand.

She closed her eyes to picture the scene better. Yes, a sword. Where had a scribe gotten hold of a sword? They were forbidden to use weapons. She hadn't seen him with it after. Perhaps he'd dropped it? The sword had shone with orange lux. Could it have been a conjured blade? She didn't think so. But to use lux and a sword together implied he'd been practicing it for some time.

Then he'd shown he could use a two-color lux technique, a chord. Min might not know much about cultivation theory herself, but she did know that combining two different colors of lux together took work and was the sign of a more advanced cultivator.

He would be a good asset for her Brotherhood. That was it. That was why she was interested in him. Not just because she had thought she was going to die, and then at the last moment, looked up and seen him there, gleaming with sweat, glowing with lux.

He was just a scribe, after all. A scribe about to make the jump to cultivator, which would make him an eligible husband for Min. Not that she wanted a husband. She was here to promote her Brotherhood and see to its interests.

The business of being a noble in the Court of Gems was just cover. It was her real rank, of course, and certainly made her eligible to marry a cultivator. But she had bigger fish to fry right now.

Regardless, she had found the scribe first. No washed-up sect was going to take him away from her. Not now that she truly understood just how important to her Brotherhood's future a couple of cultivators could be. She and her grandfather had dreamed too small, thinking of convincing a few sectless cultivators approaching Bodily Refinement to join the Brotherhood as muscle. Having real cultivators in their membership would open doors for the Brotherhood they'd never dreamed of.

Was it possible there was a reason why other fraternal organizations had never tried to bring in high-ranking cultivators? Min quickly quashed that worry. Most Brotherhoods were not led by a far-seeing Eldest Brother who could marry his only daughter to the son of a provincial governor, thereby guaranteeing his descendants’ high-ranking status. She would take that dream even farther by binding a cultivator or even two into their organization.

Chang-li was a good prospect, but his friend Joshi might turn out to be an even better one. There was much there that Chang-li was not telling her, she was sure of that, and she would look into it. How had a scribe and a barbarian come to team up? Where had they even met? For now, she needed to take steps to protect Chang-li and Joshi as well as get more of her people into good positions.

It worried her. The barbarian stuck out like a sore thumb in this camp. If he was not in fact a new arrival — if he and Chang-li had met previously, and gone into the tower together at the same time, where had he come from? It made no sense.

Realization hit her. His rough manner, the way he’d slid away from attention right away — what if he had been in the camp all along, as one of the enslaved workers? Some of the slaves had died in the attack on Hiroko’s caravan. Joshi might be one of those slaves, not dead, but escaped.

Then — Hiroko must know who he was. And she’d been standing arm-in-arm with him tonight.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Oh, this was big. She needed to make certain before she did anything with the information. If she was wrong it could get her in serious trouble. How to confirm without letting anyone else figure it out? She’d need to be very, very careful.

Brother Stone slid into the booth across from her, and Min purposefully put all thought of the princess and the barbarian out of her mind. “Did you make the arrangements?”

"I don't like this," he said, none of his usual deference in his voice. "This is dangerous. I don't think we need this."

"Didn't you enjoy your trip inside the tower?" Min asked. "I certainly did. It was eye-opening. I'll be looking for a way back myself, but that's not the point."

"No, it's not," Brother Stone agreed harshly. "I am happy to continue cultivating. I don't think anyone's suspected anything amiss yet. But bringing in more..."

"It's the perfect chance," Min said. "Chang-li will deliver three licenses for disciples making their way toward Bodily Refinement. All you have to do is find three members of the Brotherhood down in Golden Moon City who are likely candidates and willing to take a few risks. Add a couple of others to serve as sect functionaries, and here we are, slotted neatly into this tower cull, with papers recognizing us as a legitimate sect and a Young Master to lead us."

"You're putting a lot of faith in a couple of men we know nothing about," Brother Stone growled.

"Chang-li has been a good bet so far. If he's willing to stick out his neck for this friend of his, I'm willing to give him a little bit of rope. Just make sure the recruits don't have anything that will tie them to us.”

They would know the usual routine. Should a member of a Brotherhood be caught, he or she would deny all ties with the Brethren no matter what threats happened. In return, the Brotherhood would not stop until they had done everything in their power to help free him or lighten his sentence. The code was well known.

"Look at you.” She gestured to Brother Stone. "You're nearly to Bodily Refinement, aren't you?"

He swelled with pride. "I am."

"And when you are, you'll be a match for any five or six ordinary men. Not to mention the lux techniques you’ll have mastered.”

"What techniques?" he growled. "I don't know any techniques."

"We'll get Chang-li to teach you his."

Brother Stone stared at her. "The scribe? First of all, he's using orange and yellow lux, not red. Second, I don't know how he learned a technique, but you think he'll be able to have anything that helps me?"

"Details," Min said. "We'll worry about them later. The important thing right now is to seize this opportunity. Get these letters down to Golden Moon City. Oh," she added. "And look into where Inspector Ji’in can be found. I'm guessing, based on the reports I heard of him in camp, he'll be in a tavern somewhere, drunk to his eyeballs. We'll need to make sure that he knows what story to tell, should anyone come asking."

Brother Stone picked up her missives and sighed. "You're taking a lot of risks, Elder Sister," he said, his gruff tone turning gentle. "I hope you know what you're doing."

"So do I," she admitted. "But my grandfather didn't get to his place by playing it safe, and neither will I. The Brotherhood will flourish under my leadership, Brother Stone. I will help all of our people, not just the privileged few. This is a great step in that direction."

He looked stubborn but said nothing as he tucked the missives inside his robes. "You need to get back," he said. "It must be after midnight by now."

"I have all of the Court guards bribed by now," she said carelessly.

Brother Stone's eyes widened. "You didn't hear?"

"What?"

"Cultivation Master Bao, gave orders. Due to the tower guards having been bribed, he has shuffled all assignments. No one has the same task as last week, and he's mixed up all of the schedules as well."

Min swore an oath as she leapt to her feet. She should have expected this. She had heard the story of the bribed guards. With a couple of last-minute suggestions tossed over her shoulder as she left the tavern, she hurried back through the camp. She wished she'd had a chance to change her noble's robes for something a little more discreet. The white robes stood out in the darkness like they were glowing.

She approached the gate of the Gem Court, and for a moment her heart rose. The gate stood open, a single pair of guards on duty. She approached, her throat tight. They stepped in front of her.

"I'm returning from a walk," she said. "I'm Lady Min."

"Yes, we all know who you are," came a dour voice. Min's heart froze. "Come on inside the gates, girl."

She stepped inside as the guards swung the gate closed behind to find the Dowager Pearl standing waiting for her. A pair of ancient, dry servants at her elbows. The dowager's arms were folded. "Lady Min."

Min said nothing. She had no excuse that the dowager would accept.

"Come with me," the dowager said, and Min trailed obediently.

"We've been hearing reports about you," the dowager said. "You've been seen leaving the court on several occasions. Tonight you were reported to leave in the company of that fascinating young scribe who seems to be trying to become a cultivator. I believe his name is Wei."

"It's Wu," Min said numbly. There didn't seem any point in denying it, not when the dowager had seen her coming back.

"I will not have my charges being the gossip of the whole camp," the dowager said.

"We were just talking," Min said desperately.

"And what exactly do a scribe and a noble lady have to talk about?"

"Poetry," Min grabbed at the only thing that came to mind. "He has had training in the classics, and we were discussing the use of meter and imagery in Lady Shan-Lin's Ten Chords for the Seven Prisms."

The dowager studied her. Was it Min's imagination, or did her face soften?

"While I should like to think that my charges are so high-minded, when two young people sneak off in each other's company, my mind, of course, goes other places," the dowager said finally. "I will be looking into this more closely, and I will be keeping an eye on you, Lady Min."

Min shivered. How was she going to be running the business of the Brotherhood now? She was very glad she hadn't left any of the details until morning. Sooner or later, Brother Stone would find a way to get her a message, or they'd get a pair of more bribeable guards on duty. But for now, she was going to have to lie low and play this close to her chest.

"Go to bed," the dowager ordered. "Tomorrow, after breakfast, you will attend me, and I will have you copy out Dowager Pearl's Ah Mien’s Duties of the Royal Court until I am certain it has made an impression."

Min hung her head. "Yes, Your Reverence."

But when she had returned to her cell, and the chastisement began to fade in her memory, Min returned to thoughts of cultivation, and strapping young men who could help her achieve her dreams.