After sitting on her bed feeling homesick for a while, Yuelan got up and moved over to the small box where her earrings were kept. She searched through it for a little bit before finding what she was looking for: the pair of diamond earrings she’d worn the day she first arrived in Longuo. Her mother’s earrings. They were also the first genuine stones she had touched since her mother’s death.
Yuelan carried the earrings back to the bed and sat down on it, softly stroking the stones while thinking about her father. She sniffled and a few tears slid down her cheeks. Moving one of the earrings into the same hand as the other she pulled a handkerchief out of her sleeve and used it to dab at the tears a few times.
She cried for half an hour before she started to hear the sound of a familiar voice calling her name. Yuelan frowned and looked a little confused. How could she be hearing her father calling her when they weren’t even on the same world? She lifted her head, used the mostly-wet handkerchief to dry her eyes again, and stood up to investigate.
As Yuelan left her room she felt a burst of dizziness and stumbled. She reached out to grab onto the door jam and held on. For some reason, she was feeling weaker than she had the day before, when she’d been sick, though Yuelan didn’t feel like she had a fever. Frowning a little more, she headed out of her room to the main part of the library.
Not far beyond the doors to the private areas stood Long He speaking with a man in a black suit, blue tie, white shirt, and silver and blue cufflinks. At first it seemed a little odd to Yuelan and then she sank to the ground with a soft ‘thump.’
The two men looked over. “Yuelan!” the man in the suit, Long Ansheng, Yuelan’s father, cried out, rushing over to sweep her up into a tight embrace. “Yuelan, I was so worried! You told Cheng you were going to the library and would be back for dinner, didn’t take Ban Li with you, and never returned! When I came to find you, Librarian Long said you were alright and I only needed to wait patiently for you to come back, but I’ve been so worried!”
“I apologize for that. I was a bit busy trying to help her adjust on the other side of the bridge and couldn’t concentrate on maintaining my form here well enough to give you a proper explanation, Prime Minister,” Long He explained as he joined the father and daughter. “I had just come back to inform you of what was going on, but it seems that Miss Yuelan chose to surprise me yet again and return here sooner than I expected.”
“R-return?” Yuelan stammered. Her face was pale and she leaned against her father for support, feeling weak. “Long He, what’s going on? And why do I feel even more tired than when I was sick yesterday?”
“The other side of the...bridge?” Prime Minister Long asked, looking anxious. “You mean she went...there? To the other world Ruzhen told me about?”
Long He nodded. “Perhaps we should sit. Miss Yuelan is probably quite drained from making the return trip and it will take her some time to recover. I will explain everything.” He gestured to Yuelan and her father, indicating they should go back into his living quarters where they wouldn’t be interrupted so they could speak freely.
Long Ansheng nodded and helped support Yuelan into the sitting area and onto a seat. He took a seat right next to her and Long He sat across from them.
“What has been going on for the last few days, Long He?” the prime minister asked in a stern tone. He seemed to have regained his authoritative aura and calm demeanor that hadn’t been there when he’d seen his daughter’s face after days of anxious waiting. “Did she really cross to the other world?”
Long He nodded. “She did. When Lady Ruzhen died the powers and authority of the priestess settled on Miss Yuelan. As I recall, she ran a fever for nearly a week after her mother’s funeral.” He paused, then continued when Long Ansheng nodded his head once. “For Lady Ruzhen and most of the others of that line, the fever only lasted a day or two. They received only a part of the powers of the priestess and it wasn’t enough for them to go to the other world. It was...different for Miss Yuelan. The first time you brought her to the library I could sense that she had all of my mistress’ powers, so I advised you not to allow her to touch real stones until she reached high school age. A young child with so much raw ability could have caused devastation just by accident if she had used magic without meaning to or realizing it. And it would have drained her very quickly.”
Long Ansheng nodded. “Yes, I remember. Ruzhen told me the same thing when she realized she was going to die. She had always told me everything about her maternal line, even that in order to survive they had to have some source of magic nearby and that this library was the only source.”
The dragon nodded his head again in agreement. “Yes, but unfortunately it is only a small amount leaking from the other world to this one through the bridge. It isn’t enough to fully sustain them and they have weak constitutions as a result.” He turned to look at Yuelan. “That is why you feel so worn out, Miss Yuelan,” he explained. “You had a limitless source of magic in Longuo that you don’t have here in Kilin. Your body relies on that magic to stay healthy and support itself. The reason for it is something to be explained another time.”
“What are you saying?” Yuelan asked, suddenly feeling nervous.
“He’s saying that unless you go back there...you’ll slowly grow weaker and die just as your mother did,” her father explained quietly. “That’s why I got you permission to come here to the library even though you were under age and under qualified. And why I locked your mother’s jewelry away until your sixteenth birthday. Crystals and stones can be used in magic. Normally it would be impossible here, but you could use your own life force to do it.”
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“And without being able to control that magic, you wouldn’t have been able to live very long,” Long He added. He pointed at the pair of diamond earrings Yuelan was still holding onto. “Diamonds are the stone my original mistress used to separate the worlds and create the bridge. It took nearly all her magic and life force to be able to do it. Since then, the hereditary powers of her line have slowly grown until they settled in you, when they returned to full power. You can use the diamonds to cross the bridge between the two worlds. Of course, larger diamonds would make it much easier, but the quarter of a karat those two combined make is just enough to allow it.”
Yuelan’s hands trembled and she nearly dropped the earrings, but managed to hold onto them. “I was wearing them when I first went to Longuo. And I was trying to find you…” she whispered. “And then today I pulled them out because I was homesick and wanted to see Daddy again…”
Long He nodded. “They helped you connect and cross the bridge to find the person you were looking for,” he explained.
“Yuelan, you should go back there,” Long Ansheng said quietly as he reached out to hug his daughter. He gently stroked her silky, black hair and kissed the top of her head. “You can come and visit me any time, but your mother and I always hoped you would be able to live a longer life than the others in your maternal line. The only way for you to do that would be to live your life there.”
“But Daddy...you’d be all alone!” Yuelan protested. “And I don’t want to live there! The emperor there is trying to force me to marry one of his sons, and whichever one I marry will become the crown prince. I don’t want to be trapped in a political struggle. I just want…” Her words tumbled out in a panic and the pitch of her voice rose.
Long Ansheng put his finger on her lips to quiet her. “You wouldn’t be able to avoid being part of a political struggle, even if you stayed here,” he told her gently. “My term as prime minister is nearly over. The people planning to run for office are hoping to arrange a marriage with you either to themselves or to one of their sons to garner support from the people by saying I approve of them as my replacement. Even the emperor has asked me when I will consider introducing you to his children. You come of age in just under two years here. Long He will keep you safe and you’ve learned very well what sort of people make good leaders and what sort don’t. Whatever you decide to do, Yuelan, I hope only that your choice will also make you happy and that you can live a long, fulfilling life.”
Yuelan’s cheeks puffed out in a pout and she lightly bit her father’s finger to express her displeasure. “Why couldn’t you just be a normal person?” she complained. “How come it doesn’t matter what world I’m in everyone is looking at me to pick the next leader?”
Her father chuckled and pulled his finger away from her mouth as he used his other hand to tuck a lock of her hair behind her ear. “I love my country too much to not do the best I could for the people who live in it,” he answered. “I’ve told you that before. And it isn’t just my fault that they want you. You’re beautiful, smart, and accomplished. You carry yourself well and have an aura that draws people in. You have an eye for people and you’re known for being generous and kind. You’re even more popular with the people than I am.”
Yuelan leaned over and wrapped her arms around her father’s waist. “I don’t want to go back,” she whined, acting her age for the first time in days. “I want to stay with you. They don’t have running water or actual toilets. They use fire to cook in wood burning stoves! I don’t have any friends. Two of the princes look at me like I’m some especially delicious cut of meat and not a person and another one has a reputation for being a lazy, no good, playboy who just fools around and parties. He gave me servants, but he had them report to him. I know he did because he brought me a bracelet I saw in one of the shops and I told the girls he sent me that it looked just like the one of Mom’s that I broke.” She continued to pour out everything that had happened to her since going to the other world while her father silently listened and stroked her hair.
“Do you really think that third prince is a good-for-nothing?” Long Ansheng asked his daughter. To her annoyance, he sounded a bit amused.
Yuelan shoved on her father’s chest and leaned back, folding her arms and glaring at him with a tear-streaked face. “I think he’s hiding something. I think they’re all hiding something.”
“And?” her father pressed.
She stuck her tongue out at him. “And the third prince at least looks at me like a person, but there’s no smoke without fire and I am not going to be in someone’s harem! The other three princes I’ve only met once, when they came and introduced themselves.”
Her father patted her head and smiled at her. “Yuelan, that world needs you and you need that world. I want you to spend most of your time there. Visit me when you feel lonely or need someone to talk to when you can’t tell anyone else. Make friends with those three maids. If you need to, have each of the princes send another maid to you to make things more fair. Choose who you trust wisely, and always remember to be yourself. And when you’ve decided who you want to marry, come back and let me know.”
“But...what about my life here? My friends and everyone else?” Yuelan asks.
“No one would be surprised if you fell ill. You’ve had fevers often since you were little. If you develop a chronic illness, I can have you declared dead by a doctor I trust and have a funeral for you. The country would mourn for a while, but then move on,” Long Ansheng explained. “Nobody knows you went missing. I told your school you were ill after Long He promised me you were safe.”
“And what about you?”
“If you practice your magic and learn to control it, you might be able to bring him to that world to stay with you,” Long He suggested. “I’m not sure it will work, of course, but it might.”
Yuelan relaxed and smiled a little. “After he finishes his term as prime minister, of course. It’s only another year.”
“And I can retire to somewhere private and alone where no one can come looking for me,” Long Ansheng added, smiling. “And mourn my wife and daughter in peace.”
Yuelan frowned and rubbed her head.
“For now, I think you should get some rest and then go back to that other world,” her father told her, frowning as well. “I’ll send some things to you with Long He. Your mother’s jewelry and guzheng and the parts of your dowry that can be taken.” He stood up and pressed his lips to Yuelan’s hair again. “Remember that I love you, and always will.”
She nodded and stood up to give her father another hug, then made her way back to her room and collapsed on the bed.