Once everyone was settled in Guangfeng’s carriage, Yuelan looked over at the third prince and waited for him to say what it was he wanted to say. To her surprise, the usually flippant prince seemed unexpectedly serious and even a bit nervous. There was a tense silence in the carriage for two full minutes before the third prince finally let out a sigh and started to speak:

“I am leaving the capital. I volunteered to handle the war with Lanzhou in place of Chang Biming so that Liling’s wedding wouldn’t have to be put off and she wouldn’t have to send him off right after. At the rate things are going, I’ll be officially ordered south at the end of next week.”

Yuelan wasn’t sure what to say, so she remained silent and just nodded to acknowledge she was paying attention, though when Guangfeng looked at her, his eyes were pleading and she had no choice but to ask, “Why are you telling me this? What is it that you want?”

“I want you to wait to make a decision until I come back,” Guangfeng told her. “Leaving the capital will give my brothers a great advantage when it comes to being able to spend time with you and trying to win you over. I won’t be able to do anything more than send you letters and hope you read them and maybe respond, and I may not even have time for that. I’ll be fighting a war. Most of my time will be focused on how to win it with the fewest number of losses possible.”

“So, you’re asking me to wait to decide on a future husband while you go out and do your job as a prince?” Yuelan clarified, smiling. “I don’t mind promising that at all. You volunteered for your sister’s happiness, right? Not only are you being a caring older brother, but you’re caring for your people and being responsible for them. That’s worth more to me than hiding in the capital where it’s safe and making someone else handle all the dangers for you.” She hesitated, then decided to give him a small reward. “Besides, I can’t stand the first prince and your second brother would rather support you if you’re going to actually be serious about fighting for the throne. He just doesn’t want the first prince to have the throne.”

Guangfeng’s entire body stiffened and his hazel eyes widened a little. “So you’re saying…”

She smiled and shrugged. “You’re really the only one in the running anyway,” she told him. “But that doesn’t mean I’m going to just give in and announce a decision because of that. Especially with you leaving the capital. The first prince gives me a bad feeling and all the other princes have been warning me to watch out for him and the empress. To keep myself safe, the best thing to do is to wait.” Her look turned serious and she stared straight at Guangfeng. “Besides, I don’t love you. Even if the emperor wants to force me to choose one of you princes I’m not going to marry anyone unless I have feelings for them. If I had never come here I would have been free to choose anyone I wanted, and I’m not going to give that up.”

“I understand,” Guangfeng assures her. “I promise I will do my best to court you properly when I return. You may not love me yet, but that doesn’t mean your feelings can’t change. Besides, you’re still young and your country doesn’t even allow you to get married for another two years, I believe. There’s still time and I agree that feelings are important. Especially if we’re making a commitment to a monogamous marriage.”

Yuelan’s smile returned to her face and she nodded. The carriage stopped right in front of her residence and she prepared to get down as she told him, “Come see me again before you leave. I want to give you a present.”

“I will,” Guangfeng promised, getting up to help her down from the carriage.

***

Two days later Yuelan came out of her courtyard to find herself face to face with Long He. “Miss Yuelan,” he greeted. “I’ve come to invite you to the library. Everything is arranged for the ceremony needed for me to bind myself to you as your contracted spirit beast. Once that is done, it will be much easier for me to protect you. It took some time to gather some of the items needed because they’re quite difficult to find now, but I finished gathering them.”

Yuelan blinked a few times while she tried to convince her still-tired brain to finish waking up and start working. “Isn’t...morning court still in session?” she asked.

“I skipped it,” Long He answered, shrugging. “This is more important. You’ll need to form a contract with a divine spirit beast before you can begin your tenure as the priestess, but you also need a contract with a member of the dragon clan and as I am the guardian of the library and promised your ancestor I would assist her descendant, that responsibility and pleasure is mine.”

“So...We’re going now?” Yuelan clarified as she covered her mouth to yawn.

“Correct.” Long He nodded and headed toward the front gates. “I already had Chung Soo prepare the carriage for you.”

“Okay…” Yuelan followed along behind Long He, still feeling rather sleepy. She had been intending to go and read in the gazebo and maybe take a nap there, but it seemed she’d have to travel in the carriage instead. “How long will this take? I want to meet with Guangfeng before he leaves for the south…”

Long He frowned. “The third prince is heading south?”

“Mhm. He’s taking over the armies for General Chang Biming, who just married Liling,” Yuelan explained. “I wanted to find something that could be used as a protective charm to give him before he left…”

The dragon looked over at Yuelan and studied her for a moment before smiling. “I see. Something made with black tourmaline would be suitable,” he suggested. “It has properties that would be beneficial to him in such a situation.”

Yuelan looked down at the black jade bracelet on her wrist. “You said something similar before when you were talking about the stones in this bracelet,” she recalled. The two reached the carriage and she climbed inside it, Willow following behind her and then Long He.

The dragon smiled as he sat down. “Well, if you know what you're doing you can use black jade to create a barrier to protect yourself.” He lifted a finger and pointed at each stone as he continued. “The seriphos green quartz here can be used to cauterize wounds and stimulate healing. Amber draws out infection and impurities. And faden quartz can be used to heal broken bones, muscle tears, and even reconnect nerves or repair the nervous system. Of course, to be able to manage the last one you’d need as much knowledge on the nervous system as a neurologist from your world has. For the others you could get by with studying anatomy and knowing how the muscles and bones connect to each other.”

Yuelan stared at Long He. “Wait...how do they do that? Aren’t they just pretty rocks?”

Long He chuckled. “By themselves, yes. And it’s been a long time since magic was commonly used by humans in this world. It’s out of balance, so unless a human has a strong natural talent for it, like yourself, it isn’t really possible for them to learn anymore. To use magic, you have to have a stone that has properties related to what you want to do. Most of them have healing or protection properties, though there are others, such as diamonds, that allow for other things. Diamonds are what allow you to travel between your home and this world, remember?”

Yuelan chewed on her bottom lip as she thought. “This...is something I’ll need to learn, isn’t it?” she asked with a quiet sigh.

“It is, but it’s also something I can teach,” Long He assured her. “And there are books left behind by the last priestess that you can study as well.”

“I think I know what I’ll be doing while Guangfeng is in the south then. “I need to be able to defend myself. And being able to heal others doesn’t sound like a bad idea, either.”

“If that’s what you wish, I’d be happy to assist. Once we’ve finished the contract ceremony I will pull the books you need from storage and give them to you.”

Yuelan gave the dragon an odd look. “The library has a storage? I thought everything was always available…”

The corner of Long He’s mouth twitched. “Only to you, Miss Yuelan…”