I picked the [War Fan] up and spread it out to show them the Firebird feathers. “You like it?”
[War Fan:
A magical weapon favored by the Vermillion Bird clan. Its base is made from lightweight wood, providing a sturdy structure for the magnificent Firebird Feathers. The fan greatly amplifies a mage's power in battle.]
The king’s hand trembled as he reached out and took it.
I waited, but no one said anything. They all just stared at the [War Fan], many of them with tears in their eyes.
One of the king’s sons, who had been eyeing the item with an intense avariciousness, broke the silence. “Father, don’t you think you should give this to the strongest warrior who can make the best use of it?”
Another prince elbowed the one who had spoken. “Are you implying that you’re the strongest? Dream on!”
“We need to hold a tournament for it,” said another member of the Vermillion Bird clan royal family, a woman this time.
I smiled and signaled the maids. “Oh no, there’s no need to fight over this little thing. I have enough for everyone here.”
This snapped the king out of his trance. “You have given me a gift beyond measure. I am deeply grateful, and I will not forget this kindness.”
“Sire, this is but a small token of my esteem,” I said.
The maids arrived with more wooden boxes containing [War Fans] and I was showered with thanks from the whole party while Prince Muyang, Prince Baiyu, and his parents looked on with regal indifference.
My guests, who all seemed somewhat tipsy from the good alcohol that had been served at the banquet earlier, playfully fought each other over the weapons which were all identical.
“Look, I got the best one!”
“Give it to me.”
“No, I’ll take yours. I could use two.”
“One in each hand? Good idea.”
King Surya inspected a few of the items and verified that none of them were better than the one I had given him first. “Lady Violet, these are all incredibly powerful. I would never have dared to dream I would one day wield a weapon as good as those from the legendary Age of Heroes.”
The eldest prince smirked at Prince Baiyu as he waved his fan slowly in front of his face. “This is stronger than the White Tiger clan’s fabled Claw of the Wind sword.”
Prince Baiyu raised an eyebrow. “The Claw of the Wind is less of a weapon and more of a religious artifact used during the Sacred Rite of the Ruler’s Divine Ordination.”
I hastily changed the subject to forestall problems. “I have some merchandise I would like to show you all. Would you be interested in a few of my wares?”
King Surya and his family were no dummies. They immediately caught the gist of what I was saying.
“Lady, you have more fans?” asked the king.
I nodded and led them to the upper floor’s reception room where I offered them drinks and snacks, but they preferred to view the items first.
“Very well.” I once again signaled the maids who slid open a hidden door on the east wall, revealing a room full of piles of [War Fans] six feet high.
The royal family ran inside, pushing each other out of the way in their rush to claim the best fans.
The first [War Fans] I had given them for free were the ones with a +1 Fire bonus. Fire was the traditional element of the Vermillion Bird clan, but, of course, many of them had other elemental strengths, and these piles of items were +2 of either Fire, Wind, Earth, or Water.
“Father, please buy this one for me,” said a young princess with crimson eyes and blonde hair to King Surya. She held up a +2 Earth [War Fan].
“I want this one,” said another princess who had chosen a +2 Fire item.
This triggered a wave of pleading from the other royal children.
King Surya raised his arms defensively. “Simmer down. You’re being rude to our hostess.”
I knew what the problem was. The Vermillion Bird clan had lost their ancestral land and now worked as miners and merchants in the North. Through their hard work, they had recovered a fraction of their former wealth, but it was obvious that these weapons were definitely not cheap, and the king had dozens of wives. The total number of his offspring was over 100 at the last count, though many of them were babies or not warriors.
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“But these are just some of my wares,” I said to the king. “Perhaps you should take a look at the others first. Follow me, please.”
I led them back to the reception room.
Behind me, I heard some discontented mutters from some of the royal children.
“I’ll have to ask my mother to sell my inheritance,” said a prince with mousy brown hair.
“Lucky you,” said a princess. “I’ll never be able to buy one.”
A few of them had some interesting ideas on how to acquire the item.
“Brothers,” said an older prince. “Do you think we should pool our money and buy one fan? We could share it.”
“Share it how?”
“It’s not ideal, but we could get a craftsman to disassemble it and use the feathers to make new fans.”
“That would weaken it! We should just rotate ownership. One person could use it for a week then pass it to someone else.”
Their fears and schemes would come to nothing, however, since they were all playing into my hands.
“Here are a few more!” I said as a maid opened another secret sliding door on the west wall of the room.
This time, I showed them smaller piles of [War Fans] with +3 of every element.
King Surya held up his hand to stop his children from rushing forward. He gave me a shrewd look and said, “Lady Violet, are these the best ones?”
I smiled and shook my head. Wordlessly, I pointed to the north side of the reception room.
Everyone fell silent for a few breaths.
“I have a few more that might interest you, Sire.” With that, I grinned at the maids who solemnly opened the north door.
King Surya was the first to enter. He picked up a +4 Fire [War Fan] and stared at it for a while.
“You know, with a weapon, this powerful, one man could conquer a kingdom.” He waved the fan at the piles of items around him. “With this many? An army could conquer the world.”
I realized then that he didn’t know about the [Diamonds] I had enchanted for the WhiteTiger clan and the [Diamond Scepter and Thunderbolt Bell] I’d give to the Black Tortoise clan.
“Sire, you haven’t even seen the best yet,” I said.
He turned to me with a disbelieving expression on his face. “That can’t be. This fan is already past the limit of the most powerful legendary weapons.”
I just smiled and the maids once again slid open a hidden door. This time, I didn’t bother with too many theatrics. Instead, I slowly led them past four more rooms filled with fans until we reached the last one. I loved the looks on their faces as we walked past stacks of increasingly powerful weapons.
My guests were quite vocal in their admiration.
“The qi emanating from them makes me shiver.”
“These fans are the most spectacular things I have ever seen.”
“And they’re so beautiful.”
“It’s too much. It feels like I’m in a dream.”
As we traversed the upper floor rooms, the fans noticeably dwindled in number. Instead of piles of fans, the farthest room had display shelves showing two dozen +9 elemental [War Fans]. This time, a few of them were dual-element types, where complementary elements such as Wind and Fire amplified each other's strengths.
“I can hardly believe my eyes,” said the king. “Lady Violet, if I had a kingdom, I would offer it to you in exchange for one of these fans.”
“Oh, you can all have this for free!” I waited for their funny reactions but was disappointed by my royal guests’ composure as they waited for the other shoe to drop. “Everyone who agrees to use them to fight the demon in the south can have one for free.”
“Impossible,” was the king’s immediate reply. “Name your price and I’ll do my best to pay it.”
Dang it, I was hoping this would be easy!
“May I ask why?” I said.
“It’s taboo for us to go to our former home,” he said.
Prince Baiyu and Scholar Wu had both warned me of this, but I thought it was worth a try. When the Vermillion Bird clan fled to escape the catastrophe that stripped them of their zidan hundreds of years ago, many of them had chosen to return once they settled their children in the Northernlands. It was said that none of them ever returned and died miserable deaths with no one to retrieve their bodies and hold the funeral rites for them. Therefore, it was taboo for clan members to go to the Southerlands.
Suddenly, one of the princes tugged on the king’s arm and said something in his ear. The two of them walked a little away from me and held a whispered discussion. When they finished speaking, King Surya walked back to me with a big smile on his face.
“Lady Violet, I have a proposal for you. Money seems insufficient payment for such wonderful weapons.” He turned to his eldest son and put an arm on his shoulders. “How about you marry my son and heir? I don’t mind stepping down from my position. You’ll be a queen.”
I recoiled and Prince Baiyu stepped forward to place his body between myself and the prince.
“Sire, that’s inappropriate,” I said. “The whole realm surely knows that I already have someone I like.”
King Surya just smiled. “You can marry both of them.”
Prince Baiyu made a sound of disgust.
I didn’t dare look at my boyfriend’s face as I said, “Sorry, but no.”
“Why not?” asked the king.
“This is my type.” I patted my boyfriend’s arm. “You have to admit that…”
I gestured at King Surya’s eldest son who had red hair, red eyes, and brown skin.
“... is the exact opposite of my type.”
It wasn’t just the coloring. The two of them were contrasting types of male beauty. Prince Baiyu was tall and slim, but the Vermillion Bird clan prince was shorter and more muscular. Likewise, my boyfriend was the “cool beauty” type while the other prince had what a romance book would probably be called “smoldering good looks.”
King Surya laughed. “Lady Violet, hasn’t anyone ever told you that variety is the spice of life?”
“No, no, I could never be unfaithful to my prince!” I said.
“You might change your mind later. I’ll send one of my sons to fetch the payment. I think you’ll like it,” said the king.
One of the princes left, and we all went back to the reception room for drinks and snacks. I noted that some of my guests returned the fans in the proper piles, but others held on to the [War Fans] they had picked up earlier.
“I would never,” I whispered to Prince Baiyu.
“I know,” he said. “I’m not mad.”
That was... not quite a lie. I could tell from his expression that he was less than calm.
As I drank peach juice and nibbled on some cookies, I tried to play the gracious hostess. Thankfully, King Surya proved to be quite a wonderful raconteur with an endless well of droll witticisms and interesting anecdotes from which to draw. It seemed as though he had seen and done everything, from hunting the great Kraken to wooing a princess of the Sunset Islands.
When the king’s son returned with the promised payment for the fans, Prince Baiyu covered my eyes with his hand as the King and his offspring burst into laughter at the look on my face.