Despite its fancy name, Deimos’ new wardrobe favourite was quite simple in the effects it granted and the runework required to confer said effects upon it were simpler still.

The Raiment of the Sky didn’t grant its wearer any new abilities, it merely acted as an amplifier for the ones they already had. In Deimos’ case, it vastly enhanced her ability to lighten herself. While she still couldn't levitate as she hadn’t achieved mastery in the Aspect of Wind, with the help of the Raiment she could fall slowly enough to make it indistinguishable. Combine that with some wind manipulation to manoeuvre midair and she could, for all intents and purposes, fly.

Other than that, her command over the Aspect of Sharpness was the biggest beneficiary of her new choice of apparel.

Don’t look at those long sleeves that hide her hands, adding several dollops of demure charm to her petite frame, and be fooled. Approach close enough and they can unravel into writhing, twisting lengths of razor wire poised to dismember you.

While Deimos wasn’t the most perceptive of my wives when it came to the Aspects, she was the one with the strongest magical talent. She might not have mastered either of the two Aspects she had access to, but in the past six months she had managed to advance to the peak of Tier 2 while Ceres was still in Tier 2 late stage and Phobos had struggled to even reach the middle stage of Tier 2. Now, with the Raiment to assist her, her shortcomings had been shored up. I was confident that, if she wanted to, she could become a Hand of Justice. There were precious few Tier 2 mages who could match her in a straight up confrontation.

Shaking my head and giving up on convincing her to stop jumping off high places (a hobby she had picked up while she was training to use the Raiment) I leaned back against the rampart and asked, “How is your training with Artemis going? Ceres told me that both of you were studying the Aspect of Sharpness together.”

Skipping over to me with a smile, Deimos leaned her back against my chest. Getting hold of my arms, she crossed them in front of her, wrapping herself up in a hug. “It’s going great,” she replied. “Arty’s just a wee bit away from mastering Sharpness again and I’m much closer than I have ever been. And it shows! My Blade Edge Hurricane’s so much stronger…”

As she enthusiastically prattled on, I thought about how far she had come in such a short time. From the shy young girl who had dreaded talking to strangers to the endearing young woman who could become the heart and soul of any team within hours of joining them... Someone who didn’t shy away from having her husband hug her in full view of an entire army.

For those of us who had watched the entire journey of her transformation, it was all the more impressive because we were privy to the immense amounts of effort involved and the accompanying moments of self-doubt and uncertainty she had to overcome.

I hugged her tighter. Tilting her head to glance up at me from my bosom, she rewarded me with a smile before continuing with her recounting of her training with Artemis, peppering it with anecdotes about her daily duties and the members of her team.

It wasn’t only her. All of us had come a long way from who we were little more than a year ago.

Ceres, from the Duchess’ sacrificial pawn to her opponent across the checkerboard of war.

Phobos, from the favoured princess of the clan to an accredited researcher with a magical discovery under her name.

And Artemis? She had affirmed the Huaxian proverb of “The strongest are those who have been broken, then stood.” Having regressed in her mastery of the Aspect of Sharpness after losing to me, she had turned adversity into an opportunity and built herself back up from scratch. Now, if I had to fight her again, I wasn't sure if I could win.

And me… they call me Major Felidae now. A position on par with the Head of any family, but much more respected, when but a year ago, they hesitated to affirm my position as the Heir to the Felidae clan.

I took a deep breath, the scent of the sea mixing with the comforting and familiar fragrance of my wife.

We were sailing towards war. A few days from now I would be asked to kill men for no reason other than the fact that their allegiances lay to a nation other than my own. They could be someone I might love to chat with over a cup of tea. Someone I might have become friends with. Someone who might have a wife and family waiting for him back home. Someone just like me.

Exhaling, I let my worries flow away in the constant stream of Deimos’ chatter.

What was the point of dwelling over a question I already had an answer to? Compared to my life and the lives of those I cared about, the life of a stranger was worth less.

Much less.

***

In the captain’s cabin of one of the warships of the Eastern Armada, the five Swayamvar participants from Huaxia sat cross-legged facing inwards in a circle with their palms touching, forming the figure of a five-pointed star.

They inhaled and exhaled, their breaths and even their heartbeats synchronizing perfectly to give the impression that there weren’t five people in that room, merely one.

A sharp knock at the door broke their meditation and all five of them turned to it in eerie coordination.

Shaking his head to clear off the echoes of their cultivation technique, Shang Qing rose to answer the door.

Standing outside was a tall, lean man wearing a lime-green shirt and sporting untidy bangs that covered one of his eyes.

“Why has the mentor of Mars Felidae come to pay us a visit?” Shang Qing asked, narrowing his eyes.

Nurarihyon showed a faint smile. “Because I believe we can cooperate.”