At that moment, two shouting women burst through the open tent entrance. The din of conversation quieted slightly as people turned to stare. To Abrial’s surprise, after a short glance, most people turned back around and continued sipping their soup and conversing intently.

"Bi Chanjuan!" the taller woman scolded. She was gripping the other young woman by the ear. To Abrial’s shock, she recognized this young woman being dragged by the ear: it was that Bi Chanjuan woman who’d tried to torture her with a burning rod yesterday! What was she doing here, being dragged around painfully like that?! The beautiful woman who was pinching Bi Chanjuan’s ear continued to shriek. "If you ever pull something like that again, trying to scare a newcomer for experimentation, I’ll tear your ears off!"

"Why is no one paying attention to this?" Abrial leaned in to mutter to Finley.

Finley barely spared the shrieking woman a glance. "Mm, Bi Gho is always scolding her younger sister for something. This happens every so often."

"All right, jiejie, all right!" Bi Chanjuan shouted. "Let go of me already, I won’t do it again!"

The older sister, Bi Gho, pinched Bi Chanjuan’s ear fiercely, scanning the tent. When her eyes fell on Abrial, who was wearing her very recognizable black and scarlet robes, she began to drag Bi Chanjuan by the ear towards Abrial and Finley.

"Why are they coming over here?" Abrial muttered, feeling slightly panicked.

Finley frowned slightly, looking unphased. "I do not know, but do not worry. It seems Bi Chanjuan did something illegal again." Her expression darkened, and she looked from Bi Chanjuan to Abrial. "Did she..perhaps do something to you?"

Abrial didn’t answer, perplexed.

When Bi Gho reached the table, she bent down, yanking Bi Chanjuan by the ear. At last, she released her younger sister. Bi Chanjuan stumbled, pulling away from her older sister with a contemptuous scowl on her cherry lips and rubbing the red mark on her ear.

Up close, Bi Gho was incomparably lovely. The two sisters looked different in many ways, and yet alike, somehow. Bi Gho was tall and slender, with dewy lips and sparkling dark eyes, and she wore a flowing robe of a pale green. On the other hand, Bi Chanjuan was more buxom, and her beauty was sharper. Her expression was also much more irritated, while Bi Gho looked furious.

Bi Gho snatched Bi Chanjuan, who was trying to scoot away, by the arm, and pulled her in front of Abrial.

"Sit, you," Bi Gho demanded.

Reluctantly, Bi Chanjuan sat facing Abrial. Her ear was red as a tomato where it had been pinched, and her cheeks were flushing red with irritation, too.

"Now, apologize," Bi Gho commanded sternly. "Apologize for almost branding this poor girl and for giving her a horrible welcome to the Wei camp."

Bi Chanjuan made a hissing sound and curled her lip. Abrial noticed her long, golden-nailed fingers curl into claws.

Seeing this, Bi Gho’s eyes flashed dangerously. She nudged Bi Chanjuan with her leg.

"Do you want me to tear your ear off for real this time?" she growled.

"Okay, okay, jiejie! I’ll do it!" Bi grudgingly raised her eyes to stare burning holes into Abrial’s pale forehead. Her lips continued to curl and twist restlessly, as though she was pressing them together to keep certain words inside. At last, she opened her mouth and bowed her head to Abrial.

"I’m sorry for trying to brand you and giving you a horrible welcome to the magicians’ camp. Please accept this…apology." The last word was choked out, like sour milk.

Bi Gho’s eyes flashed. She nudged Bi Chanjuan’s back again.

"Bow lower," she commanded. "Be more sincere. And say her name."

Bi’s mouth twitched into a scowl, then back to a restless, twisting line. She lowered her face almost to the ground.

"Han Abrial Chae-young," Bi Chanjuan growled, her voice strangled. "I sincerely apologize for attempting to brand you and welcoming you badly to this camp because of my lack of respect. Please accept this — humble — apology."

Bi Gho nodded this time, satisfied.

Bi Chanjuan remained in her bowing position, her eyes murderously burning into the ground.

Abrial sat frozen, her mouth hanging open. Many people dining nearby had turned to watch in disbelief, and had begun to whisper.

"Abrial." Finley nudged her gently.

Abrial shook out of her stupor.

"Um," she said weakly, "I accept this apology…?"

Immediately, Bi Chanjuan shot to her feet. She whirled around, not making eye contact with Abrial once, and gave her sister, Bi Gho, a scathing look.

"Can I go and eat now?"

Bi Gho nodded, smiling. "Yes, you may go."

With that, Bi Chanjuan stormed off with a huff, her silken turquoise robes billowing behind her.

Bi Gho smiled apologetically at Abrial. Her expression turned quite agreeable as soon as her younger sister left. She was very beautiful, in a delicate way, like refined porcelain.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

"I am deeply sorry for the behavior of my younger sister," she said, casting a distasteful look in the direction Bi Chanjuan had left. "I hope you can accept my sincere apology as well. If she tries anything like that one more time, I am going to cut her ears off immediately."

Abrial bowed her head in return, grimacing at the thought of Bi Gho slicing her sisters’ ears off.

Would she really do that? She seems pretty serious.

"There’s no need for…um, that. Thanks, Bi Gho."

Bi Gho smiled at Abrial’s response. Then she nodded brightly to Finley and swept off as well, her silken, pale green robes billowing behind her.

Abrial swallowed, staring after her receding figure.

"Scary," she muttered. "Imagine having a sister like that?"

"Mm," Finley hummed, spooning up another wonton. "Bi Gho can be intimidating when she is angry, but she has another, very graceful and charming side."

"Well…even though that was kind of weird, I’m glad she forced that Bi Chanjuan to apologize," Abrial grumped, glancing at Bi Chanjuan, who was sitting down on the farthest cushion possible from her and Finley, all the way on the other side of the tent, and looking brooding and murderous. "She was a real asshole yesterday, treating me like an experiment or something."

Finley sighed. She stirred the remains of her steaming soup.

"Bi Chanjuan is an enigmatic person. She seems to find it interesting to see how others react to fear. From what I have seen, she is also hard to control. Even Instructor Wei cannot get her to listen. She only listens to her sister Bi Gho."

"Well, if she tortures people as a hobby, maybe Bi Gho really should just tear off her ears," Abrial grumbled. As she brooded and stirred her soup, she sat up straight suddenly. A thought had flashed through her mind. "Finley," she asked, leaning towards Finley over the table intently. Her dark eyes were intense. "What happened after you sent me away from the house? How did you escape?"

Finley, who was drinking the dregs of soup carefully from her bowl, set her bowl down. Her hazel eyes were cloudy with uncertainty as they met Abrial’s dark ones.

"I did not escape," she said slowly.

"What?! Then, what happened?"

"Your mother and father…" Finley shifted the bowl slightly, though it was fine where it was. She took a deep breath. "After they found me with the unconscious guards and acupuncturist, they were furious. They told me to leave."

"Leave?" Abrial spluttered, rising to her haunches and leaning on her forearms on the table. "Leave the house?"

Finley shook her head. "No. To leave the east wing. I went back to my room and packed my bags, sure they were going to punish me or cast me out. But the next morning, I found out that they had fired all of the guards and servants besides one cook to continue preparing food for them and Anna to clean. They gave me a large sum of money…" Finley trailed off, her hazel eyes drifting over the table thoughtfully.

"And?"

"And they asked me to find you."

Abrial stared.

"What, find me and bring me back? To stuff me back in the house again?"

Finley shook her head again.

"No. They did not say anything about coming back. They said to go to you, and…to keep you safe."

Abrial sat back. She removed her arms from the table. They fell limply into her lap in shock.

"Did they even yell at you?"

Again, Finley shook her head.

"No. They seemed too tired. Your mother…she looked as if she wanted to, but she fell ill after you left. She did not speak to me at all. Your father was the only one who spoke to me in the days after you escaped." Finley picked up her wooden spoon and placed it inside her empty bowl. "As he asked, I promised to do as they asked. I came here to wait for you. And I will keep you safe."

Finley’s hazel eyes glimmered indiscernibly as she gazed across the table at Abrial. Abrial looked back for a moment. Then she averted her eyes. She could feel her cheeks getting warm.

"Um…I don’t need you to protect me! Or something," she spluttered. "I’m strong enough myself. Let’s just watch out for each other! Okay?"

Finley stared at Abrial a moment longer, her face expressionless. A slight smile curled her pink lips. "Okay."

"Why are you smiling?" Abrial grumbled.

"I did not realize I was smiling."

"..."

----------------------------------------

As they exited the dining tent, a young man ran up to them and bowed his head.

"Are you Lady Han Abrial Chae-young?"

"...Yes, that’s me. Why?" Abrial frowned.

"Master Wei asked me to relay a message. He says that he wanted to meet with you today to discuss any further questions you had about the camp, but he is sorry to say that something has come up. Leader Bi Gho will see you instead to answer any of your questions if you so desire. Will you meet with Leader Bi Gho at the third hour in the second meeting tent?"

Abrial’s dark brow furrowed more deeply.

"Um…where exactly is the second meeting tent?"

Finley took Abrial’s hand smoothly.

"I can show you the way," she said quietly. Abrial nodded.

Turning back to the messenger, she said, "I’ll meet with Bi Gho. She seems cool. Tell her I’ll be there. This is great! I can ask more about this camp, and the Empire, and all that stuff I was never taught about the outside world!"

After that, Finley took Abrial to the stables outside of the camp to see Dal.

When Dal spotted her walking in, he whinnied with delight, tossing his ink-black mane in relief. He also took an immediate liking to Finley, nuzzling her honey braids when she stepped close. Abrial felt a twinge of jealousy.

She retrieved her small luggage from the cloth satchel Shin Minyeo had packed for her, which was still tied loosely around Dal’s graceful neck. When she brought it back to Finley’s tent, she unpacked it and found the robe that Shin Minyeo had sewn as a gift for Finley.

Finley’s hazel eyes lit up like two drops of sunlight when Abrial handed her the robe. She brought it outside and held it up to the sun, admiring its silken, flowing quality, the sparkling thread of the golden orchids, and the shimmering fade of the rose color at the hems into a pure white.

"There are even orchids for my birth year," Finley murmured, caressing them with slender fingers. Abrial watched her, leaning in the doorway of the tent with crossed arms and a crooked smile.

Finley turned around, gripping the beautiful robe tightly.

"Thank you."

Abrial’s eyes flitted away. For some reason, she felt a pang of…was that jealousy again? What the heck?

"Well…don’t thank me. Shin Minyeo made it. You can come with me to visit her sometime and thank her then."

Finley nodded, her eyes returning to the robe. She ran her hands over the soft stitching, mesmerized.

Dang. Another pang of jealousy. Abrial raised a hand to her chest, embarrassed.

What was that about?