Yuelan didn’t notice the light. In her focused mind she saw what seemed like a large tapestry made of glowing threads. There was no pattern or design on it, but there were several large holes. At each hole there was a tangled mess of the glowing threads. Yuelan reached out with her mind and started to carefully untangle the mess....

***

All the posthouse’s servants could tell Guangfeng was that Yuelan had left early in the morning with Camphor, Long He, and Byakko. They didn’t know where the group had gone. Willow provided a bit more information, telling him that Long He and Byakko were taking Yuelan to a shrine, but she didn’t know where it was or when they would be back. Shade said that Shadow wasn’t in the posthouse, so at least Yuelan had her hidden guard with her, but Guangfeng still wasn’t at ease. He sent more hidden guards out to find the shrine and report back.

While Guangfeng was anxiously pacing and waiting for news, Ainuan came into the main hall. “Third brother seems quite worried,” she sneered. “It seems third brother is afraid of being abandoned by his only hope for the throne?”

Guangfeng turned to look at his second sister. “I’m only worried that something may have happened to her. You should be worried as well. She’s your future sister-in-law and has just been revealed to be the dragon priestess. If she is missing how can she bless your marriage?”

Ainuan snorted. “What do I care about some fake priestess’ blessing? It’s obvious to anyone with eyes that Long He is just trying to build her status up. The dragon priestess disappeared six hundred years ago and never returned. Where have the generations of priestesses gone? How could a priestess show up now if there wasn’t ever anyone to teach her? It’s impossible for her to be the real thing.”

The third prince studied his sister’s haughty expression for a while and let out a sigh. “Just because the last one disappeared doesn’t mean a new one can’t resurface now,” he explained patiently. “Long He has no reason to lie. You saw for yourself that he’s a dragon. And you saw the white tiger as well. I saw Yuelan forming the bond with the white tiger personally. There’s enough evidence for me to know that she really is what Long He says.”

“Well I don’t believe it. She’s Long He’s ward, right? Of course he’d say anything to boost the status of some orphan he found. Saying her father is a prime minister that’s equal to an emperor and in some country nobody has ever heard of? How ridiculous. Father Emperor respects that thing too much to call him out on his lies, so he’s going along with the story. Third brother, you should open your eyes to the truth. That girl is nothing but a slut trying to seduce her way into a high position.”

Guangfeng sighed as he looked at his sister with a sympathetic gaze. “Ainuan, you’re about to get married into the imperial family of another country. You should fix your temper and your attitude. The emperor of Zhongshu believes that Yuelan is the dragon priestess. Be happy that you will have the prestige of being the first in six hundred years to receive her blessing at your wedding.”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Ainuan snorted and stormed out of the hall.

A few minutes after Ainuan left, one of the hidden guards came and knelt in front of Guangfeng. “We have found the shrine. Camphor and Shadow are there, but the others are nowhere to be seen.”

“Show me,” Guangfeng ordered. He strode out of the hall and straight for the stables. Before he could get there to find his horse he encountered Yun Cai leading his own and Guangfeng’s horses.

“Your Highness. I saw the guard come back and thought I would go with you to the shrine where my lady is.” The information broker smirked. “It would have saved you quite a bit of time if you had just asked me.”

“And what would you have charged for the information?” Guangfeng retorted.

Yun Cai shrugged and handed the reins over to Guangfeng. “Who knows? My lady is perfectly safe, though. You don’t need to worry.” He mounted his horse and smiled at the third prince.

Guangfeng rolled his eyes and mounted his own horse then headed out of the posthouse. “Since you know where it is, lead the way,” he ordered Yun Cai.

The information broker raised an eyebrow. “Your Highness is certainly demanding. Is this how you were taught to ask for favors of people? After all, I can take you to find your fiance, but I’m not obligated to do so.”

“Weren’t you going anyway? And you even offered yourself to take me there.” The prince looked calmly back at the glorified snoop.

Yun Cai laughed. “Fair enough.” He pointed to the dome of light and said cheerfully, “That’s where she is. I would guess, since your guard managed to get in and out of the shrine to see that Camphor is there, we can get in while she’s working.”

“Working?” Guangfeng asked, frowning.

“Of course. What other reason would a priestess have for going to one of the shrines she is responsible for?” Yun Cai chuckled.

Guangfeng decided not to keep talking with the information broker. It was only going to make him feel more ignorant and frustrated anyway.

When they reached the shrine the two men dismounted and headed into the main hall where they found Camphor standing by the statue of the white tiger and looking anxious. There was no sign of the entrance to the secret room. As soon as the maid saw Guangfeng she hurried forward and knelt in front of him.

“Your Highness the third prince. Miss is in the secret room. Lord Long and Lord Byakko said that no one else is allowed inside it, so this servant was left up here,” Camphor explained quickly.

“She’s been in there all day. Have you eaten yet, Camphor?” Yun Cai asked.

Camphor shook her head. “This servant has not eaten since breakfast in order to be here as soon as Miss came back up.”

“I’m not sure if she’ll finish today. Why don’t you have something to eat?” The information broker took a small package of sweets wrapped in oil paper from his sleeve and offered them to Camphor. “I can go get something more filling in a little while.”

“Thank you, Mr. Yun.” Camphor smiled at Yun Cai and accepted the sweets. She peeled back the oil paper and popped a piece of caramel into her mouth.

***

Yuelan had no idea that more people had come looking for her. She was still entirely focused on the moldavite crystal in front of her. Time seemed to have no meaning as she finished untangling the mess of shining threads by the first hole and started carefully weaving them in to repair it.