The third prince left the capital the following day with a group of thirty thousand soldiers to add to the thirty thousand already at the southern border. More soldiers were being gathered and redistributed to increase the numbers in the south and would join Guangfeng and his forces there within the next couple of months.
On the day that Guangfeng left the capital, Yuelan joined the crowds that gathered to bid farewell to the prince and his soldiers. She said nothing and didn’t stand out from the crowd, only finding a place to stand where she could see and watch them leave the capital. The jade pendant Guangfeng had asked her to keep safe for him hung from her waist and she rubbed it absently.
When the procession was out of sight, Yuelan turned and headed back to the Crystal Moon Residence. She went straight to her study and dove into the scrolls that Long He had given her to study so that she would be able to start learning the basics of magic. Most of the scrolls described various crystals that had power to them and what those crystals could do. They were divided into three types: healing, protection, and ‘other.’ The ‘other’ category included things like foresight, transportation, or creating bonds.
It was a lot to take in, and Yuelan wasn’t sure she’d be able to remember it all, but she at least did what she could to remember the ones that she thought would be the most useful. The scrolls also indicated that while humans had to have crystals in order to bring out magic, spiritual beasts like dragons had no such requirement. Also, magic couldn’t be used to attack (unless you were a spiritual beast), only defend, heal, or grant extra abilities.
Two months passed as Yuelan continued to study and she turned down every invitation the first prince sent. He made her uncomfortable and she didn’t want to see him, so she felt no guilt about refusing him. Besides, she was truly busy as she started to move from just reading to actually starting to practice connecting with the stones themselves.
***
While Yuelan was focused on learning more about magic, Guangfeng was in the south. The climate was warmer than in Longuo’s capital and it was already summer. The war had started and Guangfeng was busy every day handling the details and redirecting troops and arranging battle plans. It wasn’t often that he had any spare time at all, let alone enough to write a letter to Yuelan. Still, the third prince did his best and usually managed to write a sentence or two before falling asleep at night.
One such night, Guangfeng sat in the chair in his tent holding a brush in his hand and writing characters onto a sheet of off-white paper in black ink. The characters had a strong, intense look to them and were full of vitality, though the prince didn’t pay much attention to making them look nice and focused more on putting his thoughts onto paper. Occasionally he would pause and his left hand would rub the black tourmaline pendant that he never took off with a small smile on his face and a gentle look in his hazel eyes.
Just as Guangfeng finished the letter and signed his name, one of the generals underneath him arrived outside the tent. “Your Highness, we’ve received a report from the front lines!” the general called.
Guangfeng sighed and set down the writing brush as he stood up. “I’ll be there to receive the report in a moment. Meet me in the command tent,” he instructed.
The sound of a fist hitting a palm sounded and the general’s affirmative declaration was easy to hear. Guangfeng sighed again. “Shade...see that the letter dries and gets delivered to Miss Long,” he instructed the seemingly empty air. “Just have someone else deliver it. There’s no need for you to go yourself.”
A black-clothed figure appeared, saluted the prince, and took the letter from him before disappearing again.
Guangfeng sighed and rubbed at the tiger pendant, his eyes thoughtful. After a moment he released the pendant and headed toward the command tent.
***
It had been two months since Guangfeng went south and Yuelan was feeling bored and lonely. Almost as if her thoughts were being read, Chung Soo hurried over to where Yuelan was sitting in the gazebo by the koi pond.
“Miss Long, Her Highness Princess Liling has sent an invitation for you to visit the Princess’ estate,” the steward informed her.
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Yuelan’s bored expression brightened and she looked over at Chung Soo. “Really? Does the invitation give a date?”
The steward smiled and handed over the invitation.
Yuelan accepted it and read through it quickly. “Thank you, Chung Soo. Please order the carriage. I’ll be leaving as soon as I’ve gotten ready.”
“Of course, Miss.” The steward bowed and went to follow her instructions while Yuelan picked up the book she’d been trying unsuccessfully to study and hurried to her courtyard to change into something more appropriate for visiting the home of a princess.
An hour and a half later, Yuelan was seated next to Liling on a bench in the gardens of Liling’s estate. They’d chatted about the weather and tea on the way over and had been silent for the last couple of minutes.
“Yuelan, are you doing alright? You seem a little down.” Liling put a hand on Yuelan’s forearm and studied the younger girl with concern written across her features.
“What?” Yuelan was a little startled, since she’d been staring off into space. “Oh, yes, I’m fine. Guangfeng isn't around to annoy me, I’ve been avoiding the first prince successfully, and I’ve had all this time to study.”
Liling laughed softly. “Third brother is annoying? How so?”
“He’s always teasing me. It’s like he finds making me mad amusing.” Yuelan lets out a huff. “The first prince has a tendency to treat me like an object, but Guangfeng is always making fun of me. When we first met he teased me about not being able to light a fire and told me I couldn’t make tea. Almost every time I see him he teases me a little. Even right before he went south. He even said I’m cute when I’m annoyed, so I poured tea on his head.”
Liling, first princess of Longuo, stared at Yuelan in shock. “Third brother teases you? And you poured tea on his head? Yuelan, third brother doesn’t tease anyone. Not normally. He must think you’re special.”
Yuelan snorted, but her cheeks turned a little bit pink. “Yeah, sure.”
The two girls continued their chat until Yuelan needed to head back to her residence. Yuelan was frustrated with her boredom in the capital and that visiting Liling had just resulted in her complaining about Guangfeng and Liling’s answers making her more confused and annoyed with him. It seemed that getting away from the capital was the best solution, so she decided to go up the mountain to the library for some research and to get away.
Even getting away from everything didn’t really work, as she still kept thinking about annoying Guangfeng, so she informed Long He she was going home, wrote a letter to the third prince, and then sent Shadow to deliver it before taking her mother’s earrings and going to Kilin.
While she was there she bullied her father into taking her shopping and spent some time at the prime minister’s estate. She’d purchased a beautiful accessory set made in an ancient style that would fit right in in Longuo while she’d complained about Guangfeng and being bored and lonely to her father, who had listened to her with an amused smile on his face.
After returning to the library, Yuelan sat on the chair in front of the dressing table making an attempt at putting her new accessory set into her hair. The set was made of platinum and had diamonds set in the shape of clusters of blossoms, making the pins appear like branches. Small pieces of light green barite formed leaves.
By some miracle, Yuelan managed to arrange her hair on her own into a pretty style that would have made her maids quite happy to see. The matching earrings and necklace were much easier to deal with, as they could be put right on without having to arrange anything. She sat there, looking in the mirror, and smiled a little. After a few minutes, Yuelan started to wonder what Guangfeng would think of her appearance and she got up to change her clothes. She put on a light green gown, white belt, and white, long-sleeved, floor-length robe, all embroidered with silver thread. Even though the robe’s sleeves were long, it was made out of silk crepe, so it was lightweight and wouldn’t make her overheat.
Yuelan studied herself in the full-length mirror in the room. After about a minute she found herself wondering what Guangfeng would think yet again and she frowned. It was annoying that now that he was gone she kept thinking about him. She had the urge to see him just so she could give him a good kick in the shin just for existing, but he was all the way in the south. Even if she went back she wouldn’t be able to…
The scenery around Yuelan changed. Her bedroom in the library, which looked the same no matter whether she was in Longuo or Kilin, disappeared and she found herself standing partway down a grassy hill with a familiar figure standing at the top. Around that familiar-looking back stood more men, all of whom were looking away from Yuelan. She looked around, confused, and happened to spot something out of the corner of her eye: a person with a bow, arrow locked, aiming at Guangfeng’s back.
Without really thinking about what was going on, Yuelan started to run up the hill toward Guangfeng. A moment later, the archer loosed his arrow. “Guangfeng!” Yuelan shouted.
The third prince heard a familiar voice that he was certain he shouldn’t be able to hear and thought he had started daydreaming without realizing it. He shook his head and ignored the voice, only to hear her call his name a second time sounding panicked. This time he turned his head just in time for Yuelan to crash into his chest. Not even a second later, an arrow pierced into her shoulder and Guangfeng felt his entire body stiffen as blood soaked the hands he instinctively used to support her.