Guangfeng, Shadow, and Yun Cai arrived outside the small clearing while Yuelan was still in the middle of the bonding ritual. The third prince saw the large, white tiger and tried to go into the clearing to protect her, but Yun Cai reached out a hand, grabbed Guangfeng’s wrist, and held him back.

“Don’t interrupt the ritual,” the information broker advised. “It’ll hurt both her and the divine beast she is forming the bond with.”

“What are you talking about?” Guangfeng demanded.

Yun Cai smiled. “Lady Long is in the middle of a bonding ritual,” he explained calmly. His free hand stretched out to indicate the stones set in specific locations around the clearing. “Those stones and the purple jade in the center are used to form a bond between a high ranked spirit beast and a human. The one in front of us looks like the White Tiger, which would make it a divine beast. Forming the contract bond is difficult and tiring. If you interrupt it then it could hurt the two in the middle of it, especially the human.”

“How do you know that’s the White Tiger? Or even that a bonding ritual is taking place?”

“The answer to the first question is that it’s just an educated guess. As for the second, I can feel the stones resonating with each other and the two of them. I’m also familiar with the stones required, even if I only needed the purple jade to form the contract with Lueduo,” Yun Cai explained patiently. He studied Guangfeng’s face and his expression became curious. “Are you telling me you haven’t realized who your fiance is yet?”

Guangfeng’s eyes narrowed. “What are you implying?”

“As soon as Long He showed up in my house with you and Lueduo said he had formed a contract with her I knew who she was. That’s why I want to meet with her. If you haven’t figured it out, then I’m not going to tell you.” The information broker shrugged and gave Guangfeng a smile.

Just as Guangfeng was going to ask how much he wanted for the information he heard Yuelan’s voice calling out “Byakko.”

“So...it really is the divine beast,” Guangfeng said instead, turning to look at Yuelan.

“I thought so. You should be careful, Your Highness. If she decides she really doesn’t want to marry you then not even the emperor will have the ability to force her,” Yun Cai advised. He smirked at Guangfeng. “And I’ll give that piece of information free of charge just for you.”

“I already knew that,” Guangfeng replied as he started to walk toward the slender girl in the middle of the clearing. “I learned that the day I delivered the betrothal gifts.”

***

Yuelan stretched her hand out and stroked it along Byakko’s head until she reached his neck. She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder, feeling a comfortable sense of familiarity. Her eyes closed and she let out a sigh. “Your fur is very soft and warm, Byakko.”

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The tiger snorted. Of course it is. I take excellent care of it. Someone followed you, by the way.

Yuelan opened her eyes and turned to look only to see Guangfeng striding toward her and looking upset. She sighed. “My fiance, Guangfeng. The horses pulling my carriage suddenly panicked and went wild.”

Oh, that was my fault. You didn’t seem like you were stopping, so I told them I was going to eat them.

She frowned, released the tiger’s neck, and put her hands on her hips, glaring at it. “Don’t do that again. I have a hard enough time being that close to horses without them panicking because you threatened them just to get me to stop!”

Byakko didn’t seem at all apologetic. He even made a growling sound. You shouldn’t rely on food to get you from place to place. That dragon or I can carry you instead.

Guangfeng stopped next to Yuelan and gave her a disapproving frown. “Your carriage went out of control, crashed into a tree, knocked out both your maids, and you decided to knock out your guard yourself and wander off alone?” he asked.

Yuelan shrugged. “Shadow wouldn’t listen to me. I did what I had to do.”

“You could have waited for me to get there and I could have come with you.”

The look Yuelan gave Guangfeng was pointed. “You wouldn’t have let me come either. Waiting would have just made it more difficult for me to get here.”

As she spoke the sky darkened and both of them looked up to see Long He, in his full-sized, natural form, forming a circle above them. Bright light flashed and the dragon roared. Next to them, Byakko let out a roar of his own in reply and then the two roared together.

“The contract is formed. The priestess has claimed her inheritance!” Long He announced in a thunderous voice that spread for miles.

Yun Cai stepped up from behind Long He and knelt down on the ground in front of Yuelan. “Yun Cai and Lueduo answer the call of the priestess and swear our loyalty. We specialize in the gathering of information, scrying, and concealing magic.” The information broker looked up and smiled. “Also, I apologize for kidnapping you before. I didn’t know who you actually were and it was a job.”

Yuelan looked from the dragon above to the white tiger beside her, and then to Yun Cai kneeling before her. “Um...what exactly is going on?” she asked. “Long He said he wasn’t going to reveal it, but now suddenly he is?”

The air around the tiger shimmered and shifted until the great beast had disappeared and a man with golden eyes stood in its place. “Oh, you hadn’t formed a contract with a divine beast before, so there wasn’t enough protection around you. Now that you have it’s almost impossible to conceal who you are, so he had to announce it.” He pointed at Yun Cai and the raven perched on the broker’s shoulder. “As for them, the raven clan swore allegiance to your ancestor. They and any humans they contract with serve as scouts and information gatherers on your behalf. They’re quite useful.”

Yun Cai smiled and then turned to look at Guangfeng. “The contract is only with the priestess. You still have to pay to hire my services.”

Guangfeng raised an eyebrow. “You’re still going to let yourself be hired by others?”

“Of course. One of the best ways to find out about a threat to someone is to be hired by the person who wants to threaten them,” Yun Cai replied, shrugging. “I double hire all the time, though naturally my allegiance is to the one who paid me first. Now, however, my allegiance will be primarily to the priestess. Any other jobs are just part of the work for her.”

Yuelan frowned and glared at them. “Excuse me, but I’m still here. Could you two stop acting like I’m not?”