Willow’s shriek caught Guangfeng’s attention and he turned just in time to see the maid falling to the ground as a cushion for Yuelan. He rushed over to the two girls with the imperial physician who had just arrived, his oldest brother, and Laurel right behind him. From the corner of his eye he saw Camphor run out of a nearby building.

“What happened?” Guangfeng demanded.

“M-miss just...suddenly passed out!” Willow answered, looking shaken.

The imperial physician knelt next to Yuelan, pulled out a silk handkerchief, and placed it on her wrist as he took her pulse, frowning a little. Once he finished with that he checked her eyes and relaxed. “She fainted due to her fever,” he explained. “Has Miss Long been under any emotional stress recently? This looks like an illness caused by exhaustion.”

Willow hesitated, then nodded. “Yes...Miss has been very busy since the imperial decree granting her this residence and the day before that she had just arrived in our Longuo,” the maid explained.

The imperial physician opened his mouth to say something else but stopped when the sky suddenly turned dark, lightning flashed across the sky, and a loud clap of thunder shook the residence.

Another lightning bolt struck the ground nearby and when it disappeared Long He stood in the exact spot it had struck. Guangfeng stared in shock at the white robed librarian’s furious gaze.

“What is wrong with my ward?” Long He demanded as he walked over to them in just a few large strides.

The imperial physician stood up and saluted Long He. “It’s a fever caused by exhaustion,” he answered quickly. “Miss Long will make a full recovery with some proper rest and good food. I will also provide a prescription to give her constitution a boost.”

“How did this happen?” Long He demanded, turning his glare on the three maids who had gathered around Yuelan.

The maids’ faces were pale and Camphor stepped forward to speak up. “M-miss has been busy with the residence and whenever we convinced her to take a break Their Highnesses the first and second princes would arrive unannounced to visit her,” she explained in a shaky voice.

Long He turned silver eyes on Guangfeng, who was still trying to wrap his mind around the librarian suddenly appearing in a flash of lightning. “What are you doing here?” he demanded.

“Laurel came earlier today and informed me that Miss Long had a fever and eldest brother was visiting her. I sent Laurel to summon an imperial physician and came to help Miss Long by pulling my brother away,” the prince explained. His body was trembling from a fear he didn’t understand. The librarian had never released such a bloodthirsty aura before and Guangfeng was unprepared for it.

The dragon turned furious eyes to the first prince. “And you. What’s this about unannounced visits to the home of a young, unmarried girl while her guardian was away?”

The first prince also seemed to be affected by the librarian’s aura as his face was somewhat pale. “I was only making an effort to get to know Miss Long, as she is my future wife.”

Long He knelt and carefully lifted Yuelan. “Stay put. We’ll talk about just whose wife she’s going to be with your father present,” he growled at the princes before turning and striding off in the direction of Yuelan’s courtyard. All three of her maids hurried along behind the librarian and their mistress.

The imperial physician looked paralyzed from the force of Long He’s aura and Guangfeng had a feeling that it was a very bad idea to disobey the librarian. The first prince seemed to be smart enough to not try and sneak away, so all three men stood where they were and waited a full half hour before Long He came back into view alone.

The librarian gave the doctor a single glance. “Send someone to fetch the ingredients and make the prescription yourself,” he commanded, tossing a heavy purse at the man. “Don’t make it so weak that it has no effect, either.”

The doctor saluted and pulled out some paper and a writing brush, quickly scribbling down the ingredients he needed and looking around for a servant. Chung Soo, who had gone unnoticed nearby, stepped forward and took the list before heading out of the residence to purchase the required herbs.

Long He’s hard, silver eyes turned to the princes. “Pass word to your brothers that you have all been summoned to the imperial palace,” he ordered. “Your father won’t have to wait too long for you to arrive that way.” Before Guangfeng could say anything, the librarian disappeared in another flash of light and lightning seemed to strike in the imperial palace itself.

Guangfeng swallowed and tried to force down the feeling that something very bad was about to happen.

***

Long He ignored the guards that tried to stop him and stormed into the emperor’s study unannounced. “Xiong Lijun!” he bellowed. “Kneel and accept your punishment!”

The emperor looked up and the blood drained from his face. He scrambled to his feet and hurriedly knelt in front of Long He. “Great Lord He...what has this lowly emperor done to offend you?”

“My mistress collapsed with fever because of you and your sons! Two of them are so eager to claim their spot as crown prince that they didn’t spare a single thought for her health! She has always had a weak body and was given no time to rest after transporting herself to this world before you forced responsibility onto her!” Long He’s hand lifted, then slammed into the emperor’s desk, splitting the intricately carved, very expensive, zitan wood desk in two.

The emperor flinched, then pressed his forehead to the floor. “Great Lord He...this lowly one had no idea! This lowly one only wanted to ensure the best future for his people! Great Lord He, please calm your anger!”

Lightning flashed and thunder cracked, shaking the palace and causing the emperor to flinch again. “She doesn’t even know the whole truth yet!” Long He snapped. “She understands nothing of this world beyond what was passed down as myth in her own. All she knows is that she somehow crossed from her world to this one! I consented to your idea under the assurance that you would make certain she was well cared for. Is this how you keep your promises, Xiong Lijun?”

The dragon sensed more people gathering and glanced over to see the three oldest princes arriving at the same time. All three froze, startled, at the sight of their father kowtowing to Long He.

“Deal with your sons in a way that satisfies me, or I will punish them and you myself!” Long He snapped at the yellow-robed emperor.

The emperor quickly scrambled to his feet and glared at his sons. “What have you done?!” he demanded. “How dare you cause Miss Long to collapse?!” Xiong Lijun was clearly doing his best to make his tone angry and forceful, but his pale face and the slight tremor of fear was still clear.

Xiong Guangfeng stepped forward and knelt in front of his father. “This prince did not visit Miss Long until today,” he explained, doing his best to exonerate himself. “When I heard Miss Long was unwell I went and delivered a bracelet of fine black jade, faden quartz, seriphos green quartz, and amber to her. The stones are said to have healing properties, so I hoped it would make her feel better. As soon as I delivered the bracelet and was sure the imperial physician had arrived I was going to leave, but Miss Long suddenly collapsed from her fever.”

The emperor glanced over at Long He, who nodded. “That is what her maids said to me as well,” the dragon replied.

“And you two?” the emperor demanded of the other two princes.

Xiong Guangfai and Xiong Guanghong knelt next to Guangfeng and bowed their heads. “This son was at fault!” the two said simultaneously.

“This son only wanted to become more familiar with Miss Long after Father Emperor’s decree that one of us must marry her to become crown prince. This son felt it would make Miss Long more comfortable to get to know me before she was required to choose,” the first prince, Xiong Guangfai, explained.

“This son felt the same as eldest brother,” Xiong Guanghong added.

“How often did you visit her since the decree?” the emperor demanded. “Did you announce your visits? Did you give her time to prepare for your arrival? Did you even think that she had just arrived in Longuo and was likely to be tired from her journey here and in need of rest?”

The princes glared at each other, causing the emperor to slam his hand on the already broken desk. “How dare you?! For the next month I forbid you from going within a mile of Miss Long’s residence or the library without her invitation! And after the month has come to an end I will have arranged a schedule for all six of my sons, allowing her to spend an equal amount of time with each of you. If it is not your scheduled day you will not go near her unless she personally invites you!” The emperor glanced over at Long He again.

The dragon gave no reaction. He intended to take Yuelan back to the library as soon as she had recovered enough to travel the two hours it took to get there by carriage. None of the princes would be able to get to her without his permission until he was satisfied with her recovery anyway.

The emperor turned back to his sons. “Now apologize to Great Lord He and have gifts delivered to Miss Long to apologize for causing her illness!”

The oldest prince frowned and looked at his father in confusion. “Great Lord He?” he asked. “Shouldn’t he be imprisoned or killed for treating you the way he was when we arrived here, Father Emperor? He has committed the crime of attacking the emperor!”

Long He laughed, but it didn’t sound pleasant. The sound didn’t even sound human. “What would you younglings know?” he scoffed. “You’re only humans who have barely reached adulthood. I have lived for centuries as the guardian of the gate. No mere human stands above me and only the master I recognize or the Emperor of Beasts can command me.”

The emperor reached out and smacked Xiong Guangfai, leaving a handprint on the prince’s face. “You will show Great Lord He respect! Even I would not dare to impose our laws on the dragon of the Great Priestess!”

All three princes' faces drained of color and they turned to look at Long He with wide eyes. Guangfeng was the fastest to react as he quickly pressed his head against the floor. “This lowly prince pays respect to Great Lord He! Please forgive this prince’s disrespect!”

The other two princes followed Guangfeng’s example, uttering the same words.

Long He gave a snort. “My ward is the daughter of a prime minister. Her father is of equal rank as her country’s emperor. She herself is the equivalent of an imperial daughter. Show her the respect she deserves. There will be no forgiveness if something happens to her again.” Without waiting for anyone to acknowledge his warning, the dragon left the emperor’s half-demolished study and disappeared in another flash of light.