As Chang-li watched Joshi storm off through the crowd, Min released his arm. "Go after him!" she hissed. "Don't let him say or do anything irrevocable. I'll find Hiroko."

Chang-li was still trying to process what had just happened. Princess Hiroko had declared she would marry Joshi. That was good, wasn't it? Min didn't seem to be taken by surprise, though Chang-li was. Hiroko and Joshi would make a good couple.

Joshi's face was dark with rage. He was heading for the rainbow bridge back over to the Crown. Chang-li hurried after him. People kept stopping to congratulate him on his sect achievements. Here came Li Jiya through the crowd, her eyes wide with excitement as she caught up to him.

"Did you know this was going to happen?" she asked. "Where's Joshi going? I wanted to congratulate him."

Chang-li shook his head. "I need to speak with Joshi. You should stay here at the party. We can't all leave. If anyone asks, tell them that the Morning Mist Sect is happy to welcome Princess Hiroko or whatever the appropriate wording would be."

"Understood," Li Jiya said before letting him go.

He'd completely lost sight of Joshi now, and there was still nearly a quarter of the golden cloud left to cross before he reached the bridge. Chang-li strode on determinedly.

An obsequious official detached himself from the throng. He wore the emblem of the Court of Gems but was not anyone Chang-li had met before.

"I am the third assistant undersecretary to the Dowager Pearl," he said in a nasally voice. "I'll be working with your sect to ensure all of the paperwork is in order for the upcoming nuptials between Princess Hiroko and your Young Master Joshi. I'll need an appointment once your sect grandmaster arrives to begin the process."

Chang-li pulled up short. He blinked down at the puffy-faced, balding little man. "None of our sect grandmasters are present," he said.

The little man made a clicking sound, his eyes wide. "I am afraid we must have someone of sufficient status to negotiate the nuptial matters. The bride's dowry, her ranking within the sect, your sect's updated records..."

"Ugh," Chang-li managed. He looked around for Min, but she was nowhere to be found. "We didn't have anything of that sort when I married my wife a few weeks ago."

The official gave him a patronizing look. "Yes, well, you will find that matters concerning an Indigo Princess are slightly more regulated and involved than those involving a lady of the lower ranks." He very pointedly looked at the red stripe on Chang-li's robes. “Do let me know as soon as the grandmaster arrives, please.”

“Of course," Chang-li promised, hoping that Min would know what to do here.

"Excellent. I'll need a copy of Young Master Joshi's cultivation license along with all endorsements at that time so that we can have it validated by the imperial office. Oh, and..." but Chang-li had brushed past the official and made his way toward the bridge.

When he finally cleared the crowd, Joshi was nowhere to be seen. Chang-li raced forward, retracing his steps along the crowd and back down toward the petal where the Morning Mist House was.

All the while, his brain was working furiously. Min had been right to warn him. There was a lot going on here he didn't understand. It was clear the Prisms were playing a power game of their own now over this bridal tournament that could get very dangerous for the lower ranks involved. Morning Mist had just earned themselves yet more imperial scrutiny. But there didn't seem to be any way around that.

Chang-li had thought of plenty of problems and no solutions by the time he arrived at sect headquarters, Joshi was in his small cottage, furiously throwing his meager possessions into a satchel. Chang-li placed himself in the doorframe.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm leaving," Joshi snarled without looking up from his packing. "Obviously. What does it look like?"

"You can’t.”

"I certainly can't stay here. I will not marry anyone, let alone her."

Chang-li held up a hand. "Honestly? I thought you liked Hiroko."

"My feelings for her are irrelevant. I don't need an imperial ball and chain. And even if I did, I would never marry the daughter of the man who killed my father." Rage and bitterness twisted Joshi's normally handsome features as he looked up from his satchel. "I knew coming here was a mistake."

"And leaving right now will be a bigger one," Chang-li pointed out. "Do you want to draw attention to yourself? If you walk out now, your name and that of our sect will be infamous throughout the empire. You won't be able to find another tower to cultivate at."

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"There's more to the world than the empire," Joshi countered but he took his hand off his bag.

“If you leave, our sect is going to be disgraced. I can't even imagine what would happen to have you throw an honor like this back in their faces. I'm not saying you have to marry her," Chang-li added quickly as Joshi's expression darkened once more. "I'm just saying we need to keep our heads. We've come through tricky situations before this. Look, all we have to do is delay. I can think of a dozen ways already. Your paperwork's not properly in order. They want to speak to a grandmaster of the sect. They already told me that. Well, we don't have one of those. So, there's ways to postpone matters. We put the wedding off until after the conclusion of this tower, and then..."

"Then what?" Joshi demanded. "How will it be any better to break off an engagement then and not now?"

"If Li Jiya wins the tournament, she'll have influence and can intercede for us," Chang-li said. "At the very least, we'll have a chance of reaching Peak of Spiritual Refinement here. That's got to be worth something."

Joshi seemed to be listening. "I don't want to be part of these political games. Prisms are looking for pawns they can play. I want no part of it."

"Neither do I," Chang-li said. He held up both hands in a pleading gesture. "I just want to cultivate. If we could do it without all the lying and forging and complications, I'd be all for it. But this is the world we live in. It's no good fighting against that."

Joshi shook his head. Some of the rage went out of his face, but he looked determined. "My life is not limited to the empire. I only stayed because of the opportunity to cultivate. But cultivation isn’t worth my freedom. You understand.”

Chang-li nodded. He opened his mouth to speak but Joshi continued. “Don’t worry, I'll wait for the right time," he promised. "But if these matters get more serious, I won't stay here and let myself be bound up in a marriage I don't want."

"That's good," Chang-li said. He stepped back as Joshi came toward the door. "When Min gets back we can make plans." He had expected her to be hot on his heels.

Joshi grunted. He went out of the house and up to the training room. Chang-li trailed after him. Joshi set to work punching the hanging bag they'd installed only yesterday. After Joshi had destroyed three ordinary punching bags, Min had ordered a lux-reinforced bag which now hung from the ceiling. Joshi strode over to it and began to assault the inoffensive bag with his bare fists, not even bothering to reinforce his knuckles with lux.

Chang-li sat in a corner and cycled. His mind was awash with different thoughts. He was keeping half an eye on his friend as Joshi pummeled the bag over and over again. Sweat dripped down Joshi's face. It looked like a pretty satisfying way to work off tension and Chang-li was half tempted himself, but he left his sword in his soul space for now and tried to focus on sending just one color of lux up each side of his channels. It was harder than he'd expected. He kept thinking about the prisms and their schemes and worrying what might come next.

At last, Joshi stepped back from the bag. Apparently, the money they'd paid had been worth it. It showed no scars from Joshi's harsh treatment. Chang-li stood up as well. He was still surprised that sitting in one position for hours and cycling didn't leave him feeling cramped and tired, but the revitalizing power of lux flowing through his body meant he instead felt as though he'd just had a good night's sleep.

Chang-li was about to suggest to Joshi that they go find something to eat when, down below, he heard the door of the house open and several people enter. There was a lot of chattering going on. It sounded like the disciples had returned. Chang-li raised an inquiring eyebrow as Joshi shook his head. "You deal with them," he growled. "I'm going to wash my head." He disappeared down the back stairs toward the garden.

Chang-li took the front stairs and went down to find all of the disciples talking animatedly in the hall. Brother Stone spotted him and shushed the others. "Go on out of here," he told them, "and watch your gossip."

Chang-li was glad to hear someone had a cool head on his shoulders. He stepped into the parlor and Brother Stone followed.

"I hope there wasn't too much commotion after Joshi left. I didn't mean for Min to have to stay behind and play clean up."

Brother Stone's eyes widened. "Oh, no. I don't think anyone even remembers Young Master Joshi leaving. Or you. Everything happened so quickly afterwards."

"Where is Min?" Chang-li asked. "Did she stay behind to speak with Hiroko?"

“She’s right behind us,” Brother Stone said as the door opened once more to admit an exhausted-looking Min. Brother Stone cleared his throat. "Excuse me, I will go and have a word with the junior disciples." He left Min and Chang-li standing there alone.

Chang-li took a deep breath. “Did you know what Hiroko was planning?”

“No!” Min's eyes widened. “I — she came to call on us the other day while you three were competing. She didn’t tell me why and I didn’t push. I probably should have. But it didn’t seem important at the time. Did you stop Joshi from doing anything he shouldn't?"

"He was ready to leave, but I talked him into staying for at least a bit longer. If this engagement starts looking serious, though, he's out of here, and I can't blame him."

"He would just abandon the sect like that? And you?” Min sounded aghast.

Chang-li nodded. “He would.”

Min shook her head in apparent disbelief. “I'm sorry. I don't know what we're going to do."

"Try not to let anyone speak to Joshi," Chang-li suggested. "There's probably going to be some events he has to attend, if we can persuade him, but the fewer, the better.”

The door opened once more. This time, Li Jiya entered. She looked supremely unruffled, as if none of the day's events had touched her. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at Min and Chang-li.

“So. Is this betrothal going to interfere with our ability to perform as a sect?”

"Not at all," Min said, ice in her tone as she stared back at Li Jiya. Min and Li Jiya had done fairly well at getting along in public, but Chang-li was well aware his wife did not much care for the bridal candidate. She'd told Chang-li that if they didn't win this tournament, Li Jiya was going to have to return to her own sect. Chang-li was fine with that.

Now the two women eyed each other before Li Jiya turned to Chang-li. "With the new change in the schedule, we'll be entering the tower again tomorrow," she told him. "Golden Locks and Crimson Orchid as well.”

The three top-ranked teams all entering the tower at once. Chang-li took a deep breath. "Well, I suppose things can’t get any worse."