Liao had to consider the possibility of his father, the Emperor – dead, because he knew what it meant for him and his family: death. Delivered by some soldier’s sword, or some assassin’s poison, but a certainty in its end. Not in the distant future, but in the days to come.

What the Jinn Gobin told him couldn’t be brushed aside; he couldn’t afford to. Liao was a sheltered prince, a hedonist, a bookworm – but no fool. At least, what he reasoned to himself. The bargain Gobin struck was straightforward: a pouch of Jade dust for a Herbal brew. It was no elixir, but if it granted him whatever strength was needed to fight whoever challenged his line, then he would do it. Perhaps it was a step closer to his green-eyed immortality – the tyrant he could become; would become in his vision. Like the Oracle had said, Seeing the future, yet making you blind to the present.

Grimacing, he paced in his room, squeezing his temples with his hands. The only place he knew to find Jade dust was in the Oracle's chamber, a woman who’d been more of a mother to him than his own forsaken mother. More like a harsh grandmother. She was sworn to protect and maintain the Jade Ember with her life. Noone could take the base reagent for an elixir, except the Emperor himself.

Liao breathed in and out, as his martial master once instructed him to control one’s body; then one’s mind. The thing was, his martial master also happened to be the Oracle.

“Shit.” He shook his head and grinned. What he would do was treason against his father. If he was still alive. Though he knew his visions, and they had never failed him yet – not unlike his father.

The prince moved to leave, standing face to face with Captain Huli outside.

“Do you know what you’re doing?” the man asked.

“No, not really. But I know what I have to do, captain. And whatever happens after, you’re a good man. No matter what you’ve done for the people we’ve bargained with.”

Huli offered a sad smile. “You know I can’t be involved with what you’ll do.”

“I understand. This is my path alone. Pleasant rest, captain.”

“Gongwei.” The man bowed. Liao went to the Oracle’s chamber.

The two guards barring entrance stood aside at his arrival.

Still the Ember flickered its unnatural green flames, silent as the crone sitting nearby. Liao sat down beside her.

“Do you know if my father’s dead?” he questioned.

The Oracle gave the slightest shake of her head. “I cannot scry to the Emperor unless he wishes to. We are not prophets, we are—”

“Yes, we’re Seers, I know.” Impatience hardened Liao’s tone. “There’s something else I didn’t tell you about my vision. We all die in the end. Me, you, everyone I have ever known and loved. Killed. Slaughtered like pigs in this very palace. And you tell me, just ignore it, just pretend like none of this sham is weighed on the edge of my father’s fate. Do you care at all? Will you do nothing?”

“And what would you have me do?”

Liao pointed a finger to the ceiling, a crazed smile on his lips. “That’s the question. I’ve been trying to reconcile with that.” He frowned. “I want you to give me one of your pouches of Jade dust. One will do. No more, no less. And that’s all. That’s what you can do.”

Quicker than Liao could react, the Oracle stood and pressed two forefingers to his forehead.

Liao's sight grew dark, then cleared to somewhere in the city. He knew it was the capital. He saw the great gates, the stoneworks, and heard the faint clamor of battle. Flashes of fire. Wails and screams. The deafening hail of musket blast, followed by the booming crash of stone shattering by cannon shot. Walls crumbled. Soldiers flooded through the clouds of dust, hacking into other soldiers. Blood pooled into the crevices of the cobbled streets.

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The prince watched it all, the Oracle by his side.

He was back in the dim room. The crone had released him from whatever hold she had put him in. Liao groaned, head pounding as if he had just witnessed a fresh vision.

“What—did you do to me?” he said, voice hoarse.

“I saw what needed to be seen. There is still much more for you to learn with your Sight. Now, why do you wish to have such a form of Jade?”

“I… need it for a brew. I made a deal with a Jinn.”

“You foolish boy. You play with things you don't understand.”

“Then make me understand. You saw what I saw. I need to stop it. Whatever—however—I can.”

The woman said nothing, her dark eyes a secret Liao could never solve.

“A Seer’s vision,” she said, “can be symbolic, a glimpse in time, a warning. Much of its interpretation is dependent on the strength of the Seer’s Sight. And your Sight is powerful indeed. Your father—hasn’t scried to me for some time. The Oracles in the other provinces do not answer. For the first time since your father’s rule, I am blind to the events of our world.”

“Not so much. You know what will happen if we wait and do nothing. You’ve seen it, mentor.”

“If your vision is true, then there is no stopping it,” the crone stated. “It would make sense then, of the sudden silence. But the Seer Order still has roots in this city. And I know that if I give you what you seek, the Jinnto you deal with will use such a thing for their ends alone—no good for any of us.”

“It’s better to deal with them than die here, helpless,” Liao said, gripping the arms of his chair, squeezing his knuckles white. “I need to know what we’re dealing with, mentor. I know enough that the other kingdoms are responsible for the capital’s fate. An uprising large enough to siege the city, and break through its defenses like an unstoppable tide. The Jinn told me the viceroys themselves are mustering their armies, a few days’ march from here. I’m no warrior. Your martial teachings have taught me that, well enough. If it isn’t safe here, I must go and—”

“You will do nothing,” the Oracle said, her voice commanding. “Whatever you’ve witnessed, there is no stopping it. It’s why I’ll give you the Jade dust. Your path is your own, and it’s not my decision where you will tread. All the knowledge you seek has been kept from you for a reason. If everyone knew the inner workings of the Dynasty, there wouldn’t be a Dynasty left to rule. No, what you must do, Prince, is survive. Survive long enough to find out the truth. If it’s refuge you seek, the only place in Qeita is in the Shadai temple, to the Daosung mountains.” She placed a small pouch in his hands, holding them together. “Now go.”

“Just like that?” Liao questioned. “You’ll do nothing? Nothing to help save this city? My family?”

“I’m an old woman, Liao. All I can do is wait, and act when my time comes. I'll do everything in my power to protect your sister. Her path, like yours may intersect someday, but are still separate. You must follow your own fate.”

Liao stood, pocketing the pouch. “You talk in riddles, give me an offering, but you’re no savior. I see an old woman too scared to act on her power, too selfish to save countless others, only her own ends. I will see this through. I will save my family, even if you won’t lift a finger to help us.”

He strode out of the chamber, back to his quarters. Anticipation prickled his neck with each step closer to what he’d waited for since his deal with the Jinnto. They could have killed him at any time; the courtesans, even his guards under their sway. Would they kill him now? It would be a simple thing, if his father was gone.

Captain Huli turned to Liao, a woman holding a lantern behind him.

“Gongwei, mistress Gia is here to see you,” Huli said, stepping aside.

Liao nodded. “Let’s begin, in my quarters.”

“That is generally how things go, gongwei,” Gia offered an impish grin.

The captain opened the door for them, then shut it, its hinges squealing with protest.

The courtesan’s smile closed into a curt line. “Do you have what they want?”

Liao took out the pouch, holding it by his side. “Do you have what I want?”

Gia revealed a flask filled with black liquid. “Do you know what this is?”

“No.”

“It’s a black lotus brew, near pure in form. Its purity will fade, its power lessened with each passing day. You must drink it tonight if you wish to keep its full effects.”

“Alright. Give me the Herb first.”

The courtesan flashed a smile, the lantern she held casting her face in sharp edged light and shadow, more menacing than reassuring.

She gave him the flask. Liao gave the pouch in turn. Gia opened the pouch, taking a pinch between her fingers to sniff.

She gave a satisfied sigh and said, "Our deal is done. Pleasant rest, gongwei.”

She knocked over the door for Huli to open outside and left.

There was only the silence of anticipation, building up to a deafening soundlessness that beckoned Liao. He stared at the brew in his hand for another moment; uncorked and drank it. The black liquid was more bitter than anything he’d ever tasted. He placed the empty flask on a table with slow care and sat on his bedside, waiting.

Minutes passed. Nothing. He felt nothing. It was a fool’s gambit to deal with the Jinnto, and he cursed himself for being such a fool. Numb with disappointment and helplessness of it all, Liao lay down and closed his eyes, spent, falling into blackness.