Flames were the source of civilization. From fire came order, came organization, came light. It was fire which transformed the rough treasures of the earth into gleaming bronze and solid steel, which saw mud and river clay baked into brick and tile and containers, which turned wood into fuel, and warmth in the cold.

Far too many saw and wielded flames only as a tool of destruction. It was unfortunate, even Father’s way was grounded in that. It was not wrong, Gu Yanmei thought. Fire was humankind’s oldest and most fundamental tool. It was obvious that it was a tool of war as well. However, it was still troubling to her that she saw so few of her clan truly comprehending the fundamental secrets of the Gu clan’s arts.

She knew the reasons for obscuring their origins. In the days after the Death of the Sun, there was no respect for anything which was not a weapon. They were savage, dark days, and it was a testament to the will and hardiness of her people, the people of the Golden Fields, that they had not regressed fully into beasthood in those conditions.

But the fact remained that the founder of the Gu clan, in those wretched days, had been a glassmaker, her sons jewelsmiths and artisans. This knowledge, and access to the oldest archives were where she had found her Way.

The Lu clan, scions of the Purifying Sun, descendants of He the Glorious had always been patrons of beauty. That was not how they were remembered though. Through the sands of time only martial valor and economic might was remembered. Even Father and Grandfather, read the records and saw mainly gleaming legions of proud men and courts of beautiful women, ruling over a wealth that no other province could match, in the days of glory.

She had found herself enthralled far more with dull and unperused documents, packed into containers, records of goods and taxation, architectural sketches, building proposals.

He the Glorious had been obeyed because he was mighty. Together with his descendants, he had been exalted, the Lu had grown to such towering wealth, because they built. They built, they created, they made beauty and prosperity. Their flames forged the rough farming tribes of the plains and the wild hunters of the scrublands into glorious cities lining the glittering riverbanks. And from that wealth, had come power, fuel for an inferno fit to stand just beneath the sun itself in its light.

Gu Yanmei considered the crack in the earth, beyond which her little sister had gone to meditate on the meaning of fire. She did not think Gu Xiulan would find her conclusions compelling even if she shared them in exacting detail. Her insights were not those one could truly internalize, without coming upon them herself.

…And Gu Xiulan was not any kind of artist. She was deeply fond of her little sister, but she could see under all of Mothers lessons, that Gu Xiulan was a warrior, not a builder of things. They were simply not alike. Her fires burned with violence and ambition, the desire to flaunt power and be praised for it.

…She worried for the Fan boy. For all his bluster, she found him to be a rather shy and careful child. He was almost her sister’s opposite. Where Xiulan wore a prim and proper lady’s mannerisms like a shade over tempers, Fan Yu wore blades and bluster like the fearsome demon mask of a warrior’s helm, it was only a shade on a retiring core.

She wondered if they both might have been better suited in the other’s gender, able to express their truth without the pressure of opposite expectations.

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Gu Yanmei shook her head slightly, the ornaments in her hair jingling softly as she stepped into the crack in the earth, through the veil of steam. That girl, Gu Xiulan’s friend was well gone now. It had been surprising for her, that meeting. Her little sister was not good at making friends.

And a common girl at that. One whose talent was obvious. Gu Xiulan would not admit it, but that one. That one was what had cracked open the porcelain shell of ladyship and unleashed ambitions fire, wasn’t she?

Her steps echoed on the rough stone floor as she passed through the narrow crevice. The crude passage would have required a mortal to duck and hunch and shimmy, but for Gu Yanmei, there simply was enough space. She was a welcome guest here. Lit by the lurid sulfurous light, she soon emerged into the chamber within.

Bubbling, boiling water tinted crimson by the minerals within filled much of the space, steam filling the air. The stone glowed with a dull red heat, and her footsteps left behind faint impressions in the softened rock at the perimeter. In the center of the pool was a flat islet of reflective volcanic glass, shot through with pulsing veins of orange heat. It was there that her little sister sat. Flush with sweat, her hair hanging loose around her neck and matted to her skin.

Yet, she was loose and calm, her hands clasped as she sat in meditation, sparks of bright orange flames emerging from her lips as her chest rose and fell with her breath. Slowly, her eyes opened as Gu Yanmei stopped by the edge of the pool.

“Elder Sister,” Gu Xiulan said, her voice cracked from its parching. It would be time for a break soon, lest her little sister's mortal flesh was damaged by the heat. “I am doing well.”

“You are. I have no doubt that you will complete your cycle today,” Gu Yanmei said. “Though no more than that.”

“I… can remain, longer,” Gu Xiulan grimaced.

“There is a line between pushing limits, and breaking your foundation,” Gu Yanmei scolded gently. “I wished to inform you that you had a visitor. It seems they tracked you down.”

Her sister blinked slowly, looking up at her. She was confused, for a moment, then pleased. “Ah… did Jian…?”

Gu Yanmei frowned. “No. Your friend, Ling Qi, as she introduced herself.”

There was a flicker there, hurt and disappointment. Gu Yanmei wished she could dissuade her sisters feelings toward the Han boy, it could not end well. But quicker than expected, she saw the younger girls feelings shift to preening. “Ah… of course. She… probably needs me, no one else explains things to her properly, you know?”

“Is that so?” Gu Yanmei said curiously, tilting her head. Her impression was that the girl was simply worried for Xiulan’s absence.

“Oh yes, I’ve been showing her… how a proper Lady should act. The Bai she rooms with is too detached, so.. I…” Gu Xiulan said, only for her eyelids to droop, heat exhaustion threatening to overwhelm her cycling qi.

“Of course, you are generous. It is good that you remember a lady’s obligations too,” Gu Yanmei said. Too many thought only of their rites and privileges.

“Yes, I… I want you to be proud, sister,” Gu Xiulan said, her eyelids fluttered again, Gu Yanmei detected the first deviation in the flow of her qi.

It appeared that her estimation was correct. Xiulan would be disappointed, coming so close to completing a full cycle.

Silk fluttered, metal jangled, and she caught her little sister before her slump could send her down into the boiling waters. She knelt there for a moment, her pooling gowns drifting and fluttering, wholly dry atop the waters surface.

She was glad that the Sect was doing her sister so well.