"So, can prisms listen in anywhere, or just in the tower?" Chang-li wondered aloud. They had all returned to the sect headquarters. It was amazing how much it felt like home to him now, considering he'd spent only a single night under its roof.

The disciples and servants were busy conjuring up a good meal. He and Joshi had both taken a chance to clean up, though he would like to visit the public bath later, if possible. Now he, Joshi, and Min sat in the small parlor off of the great room, discussing what had just happened.

"I think I would prefer to discuss that incident as little as possible," Joshi said, and Min nodded fervently.

Chang-li couldn’t get it out of his head. The fourth floor of the tower had been rich in violet lux. Someone skilled in its manipulation might well be able to use it to look back into the recent past and see events. There was nothing he and Joshi had done in the fight that was questionable, except for Feng's mention of Joshi's former status, but the prism hadn't brought that up. Perhaps she hadn't looked that closely, or perhaps she didn't care. She was, after all, a cultivator almost as far along the path as it was possible to go, as different from Chang-li and Joshi as they were from a babe's newborn.

"Tell me what happened," Min begged. "In the tower, everything."

So, he began his story. Joshi interjected every now and then. When he got to the part where Feng trapped him in the training chamber, Joshi leaned forward. "This I must hear."

Chang-li described it. Min's eyes got progressively wider.

"How long were you in there?" she asked after he had described how he'd remade his lux channels.

"I don't know." He shook his head. "Time passed, but it didn't feel like time, if that made any sense. It could have been days or weeks or even years. There just wasn't any way to tell. I was so focused on training and progression, I lost sight of everything else."

"Feng was a great fool," Joshi said. "He likely would have defeated us if he had not provided you with the method of reaching the Peak of Mental Refinement."

"You didn't need that help," Chang-li looked vaguely disgusted. "I feel like I've cheated somehow."

"Did Feng cheat by taking the divine treasures his sect offered him?" Min countered. She shook her head, answering her own question at once. "Of course not. That's what cultivators do. They take every advantage they possibly can, and they make use of it. Anything else is irresponsible. The important thing is, we need to plan what comes next. There's a tower cull in Vardin City. I have connections there, through both my grandfathers, that can be of advantage to our sect. I think we should go."

"Li Jiya is planning to go," Joshi said. “She's to compete in the bridal tournament."

"Lady Moon Whispers says she won't be," Min said, "because of Li Jen dying."

Joshi said nothing, but his expression was enough that Chang-li could tell he doubted her words.

Chang-li was growing exhausted. The smell of food in the kitchens piqued his interest, but mostly he just wanted to find a chance to be alone with Min and have a quiet word. When Joshi stood, saying he was going to go upstairs and meditate, Chang-li took the opportunity and asked Min if she'd like to stroll in the garden with him. She accepted at once.

The walled garden was quiet and peaceful, drawing in faint tendrils of green lux almost imperceptible even to his heightened senses. Chang-li breathed in the thin air. He still couldn't get used to how different everything felt outside of a tower. There was almost no lux in the air here compared to what was inside his core, but there was so much of that now. He almost unthinkingly held his hand out and Min took it, slipping her thin, warm hand in his. He curled his fingers over hers as they walked.

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"I was afraid Feng would kill you," Min confessed. "I'm sorry I doubted your ability."

Chang-li laughed. "Of course you doubted my ability. I doubted myself. Feng was far too strong. We should never have tried to face him, but,” he hesitated. “It's like there's something inside me that says the only way to progress is to push myself as hard as I can at the biggest obstacles I can find. Doing that is either going to kill me or make me stronger."

"Was it worth it?" Min asked.

"Yes." Chang-li nodded determinedly. "Yes, it is. You'll understand. We should have a little bit of time now before we have to leave, even if we are going to Vardin City, and the third floor is to be reopened as a training ground for disciples and others who wish to catch up on their own progression. Others mostly meaning spouses," he added.

Min's face lit up. "I want to progress. I don't want you to leave me behind." She took a deep breath, looking up into his face, her dark eyes intent on him. "I want to walk this path alongside you. I know we had an awkward start to things, and maybe this isn't what you had planned, but we can— That is, I—"

Her words started to trip over themselves. Chang-li stared down into her face. He took her other hand and held it in his. Min fell silent.

She was waiting for him to say something. He didn't know what he should say. Maybe "I'm sorry" or "I love you”. Neither of them was exactly true, though. He wasn't sorry for having married Min, even if there had been some rough moments so far. And he wasn't sure he loved her. Not yet. He thought highly of her and wanted to see if they could make what they had into love, but they still knew so little of each other. His thoughts were all muddled up in his head. He had no idea what to say.

He could imagine Scribe Wulan standing there, taunting him. Then he did seem to hear the irascible old scribe's voice. "Can't think of something to say? Then shut up and kiss her, you fool."

So he did. He leaned forward slowly enough that she could move away if she wished. Instead, her eyes closed and she leaned in.

They kissed. It wasn't as passionate and fiery as their night together in the inn, but there was a promise there—warmth, affection, the seed of something more. Chang-li took a step closer, putting his arm on her shoulders. His other hand found the small of her back and he drew her close. She sighed and reached up to clutch his arm as they deepened the kiss.

Chang-li was just starting to think vaguely that perhaps he should suggest they go inside and somewhere more private when he heard the sound of a throat clearing somewhere behind him. He broke off from Min and turned rapidly.

Joshi was standing there, looking amused. Min made a little squeak and went pink. Li Jiya stood with Joshi. She wore plain grey cultivator's robes, like a novice disciple who wished to practice cultivation without ruining her only set of sect robes. Joshi had a piece of parchment in his hand with an official seal on it. Chang-li recognized that seal. It was from the Office of Cultivation.

"Magistrate Bao has sent our updated accounts to us." He handed Chang-li the parchment.

Chang-li took it and looked it over. There at the top was the thirty-eight thousand kwam debt the sect had owed. In black was a forty-two thousand kwam credit, their share of the tower cull. He looked up, a great weight lifted from his heart and shoulders. "This cancels our debt."

Min looked over his shoulder. "That won't last us very long, especially not in Vardin City. You'd better let me have it. I know how we can use it to best advantage, supposing we go. I haven't yet got word if we're to be admitted to that tower cull, though. I hope we will. I have plenty of useful connections there."

"As to that," Li Jiya said, stepping forward, "I think I can help."

All three of them turned to her. From Joshi's expression, Chang-li thought that he didn't know what Li Jiya was about to say either.

"Lady Min, I think you know that I have been accepted to the tournament to choose the next bride of the Emperor."

Min nodded. "Yes, but your step-grandmother said that your sect duties would require you to give up your position."

"She may have said that," Li Jiya said haughtily. "I do not. The sect could not be bothered to spend their money or risk their secrets to save my own brother's life. I owe them nothing, and I will not be held back in my ambitions by their petty desires. I am going to enter the tournament. However," she deflated just a little, "there's a catch. I've been admitted, yes, but I will require supporters and assistants who are cultivators of enough standing to help me through the various trials, as well as the official backing of a sect, which is why I am here.”

She paused just long enough for Chang-li to make sense of what she’d been saying, but what came next was even more surprising.

Li Jiya bowed deeply from the waist. “I would like to join the sect of Morning Mist. In exchange, you will support me as I compete to become one of the Emperor's Brides.”