Yuhui stood next to the door of the Tian family’s grand sitting room, deferential to the guests he allowed to pass him—the lady of the mountain and her master of swords, his brother and the two young girls, the alluring boy in black followed by the Tian clan’s youngest child, his sister.

When Miyan was just about to cross the threshold, her older brother snagged her by the arm and yanked the girl aside, a cobra given life by a perfect moment. His vice grip pulled her down the hallway until they were out of earshot from more formal greetings and Yu spun the girl around on her heels to face him, hands planted square on her shoulders.

Miyan was a tiny thing with a void stare just like her brother’s, but showed a darkened acacia grain in the light. She spat like a mongoose when she was snatched up, clawed and scratched until she was spun face to face with her bloodbond captor, a pout on her petal pink lips.

“I need a favor.” Both the urgent tone of his voice and the way he wasted no time were painfully familiar—all the children of the Tian clan could easily recognize it in the throat of that boy who had everything: this was desperation. This was a plea about to be laid like finery at her feet. Big task, judging by the way his frame bent to meet her on equal level. Big reward, echoing like treasure in the warble of his needy whisper.

“What do you want?” the girl snipped, so different from the innocent face she presented to the rest of the family. She looked up at the hustler’s mark she called a brother with that ache in his eyes and sighed shortly. Gods how was he so pathetic? She crossed her arms over her pastel draped chest, head tilted the same way Yu’s did when he grew bored. “I was making friends.”

“Good, my favor will help you make friends even better.” He was stark even in his recoil. When she came back at him with a residue of the Tian family fury—inherited all from their mother’s side—Yuhui often found himself taken aback. This was too important a task to get sidetracked from, so he pressed on. “You’re going to go to the market with Master Xueyu and those girls, right? If you’d get some information on Laike for me, I’d be indebted to you. Whatever you want, promise.”

“What’s on offer?” Immediately, the youngest of the Tian family had her eye on the prize. This exchange was nothing new: Miyan was the darling of their father’s heart, the prized peony in their mother’s garden. She could do no wrong so she was used to having her hand out, ready for a down payment.

“I said whatever, didn’t I?” The boy tilted his head in a manner that dared him be tried. “What do you want?”

“Three wishes, no questions asked, to be delivered on demand after the information is delivered,” the teen replied like she’d done this before. “As a down payment, I want the gold and jade hairpin mother gave you that you keep tucked in the white vase—the one with the ward on it. And I want the painting Ren Fei gave you last week. Of that fish you like so much.”

“Down payment? Absolutely not. Those are not down payments, Miyan.” Yu was usually open with his emotions; with his sister, especially, there was no need to hide behind masks. She could always tell when she hit a nerve, agitation so easy to read under the delicate knot between his brows. “You can hold onto them as security deposits until your wishes are fulfilled, but I must have them back.”

“One is a down payment. One is a security deposit. Your choice—or I could just not snoop about your pretty boy.” Miyan was ruthless in her sing-song lilt, her tone like she was innocently doing anything but mugging her desperate lovesick brother for valuables.

Yuhui huffed, dogged in his renegotiations. “The hairpin is the security deposit and for the down payment, I will have Fei make you a painting. That’s on top of your wishes.”

“No deal, you said whatever I wanted,” Miyan snapped, jerking her shoulder away from her brother’s hold. “You’re not giving me anything I want. I guess it’s not that important, huh? Is that boy not important, a-Yu?“

“You’re making me choose between our mother and my best friend. That’s beyond cruel, Miyan.” The prince stood to his full height looking down his nose at the girl-shaped monster he reluctantly called his sister. “I’m offering you a way better deal—a painting just for you, of whatever you want. Think about this rationally.”

“YOU came to ME,” she reminded him, nose scrunched in teenage judgement. “But okay, okay—I won’t make you choose if you think I’m cruel. I want the hairpin and the three wishes. If the cost is too steep for the product, don’t buy it idiot! So stupid…”

“The hairpin is the security deposit which will be returned to me after your wishes are fulfilled.” His stare was unwavering still. “I already fell off the roof because of you. Shouldn’t the knowledge that you ruined my first impression with him sate your wicked little gremlin heart?”

“That wasn’t me that was you,” the girl corrected her brother’s account of events—he’d obviously hit his head and lost his senses, poor thing. “Find another spy—oh, no: there is no other spy. Hairpin is mine forever, three wishes, that’s what I want. Final offer. Is it really too much for true love, sweet boy?”

“You’re rotten to your core and I hope that hairpin takes at least half of what’s wrong with me and makes your life miserable because it can’t stand you.” Yuhui loved his sister. He thought the world of her—but this was business, and there were no niceties to be had when the stakes were so high. “Fine. You can have the wishes and the pin. But I demand visitation rights, do you understand?”

“Aa~ if I die today you’re gonna feel really bad.” The black eyed girl pouted but she couldn’t hide her expression screaming only the opposite:

☆ V I C T O R Y ☆

“Pleasure doing business with you, sir,” she chimed, delicate fingers coming to her jaw to frame the proud grin basking in her pretty face in the wake of triumph. “Hairpin in hand and I’ll start the job.”

The boy rolled his eyes, but at least he was getting what he wanted. His younger sister always drove a hard bargain—she was ruthless in his obvious weakness and he was foolish when it came to weighing the importance of needs against desires.

“You’re right, today I would feel bad. Tomorrow would work much better for me.” Already Yuhui started down the hall again, taking the long way around to his room as to not interrupt his parents’ conversation with the imprudence of a short cut. He glanced back. “You can go back to making your friends, I’ll bring it to you.”

“Nuh-uh, a-Yu~ I need some answers.” Miyan was all birdsong as she chirped along at Yuhui’s side, evidently not done tormenting her favourite victim. “What do you wanna know?”

“Obviously everything you can find out. Where’s he from? What’s he do? What kind of person is he? How long has he been at the mountain? What kinds of things does he like? What does he dislike? Stuff like that.” The boy glanced aside. “Anything and everything, okay?”

“Anything deeply personal you want me to dig up?” How often had she done this for her brother, anyways? How many little sisters had she talked up just to sate her brother’s curiosity? She smiled. “What’s the deepest darkest secret you want? I wanna make sure my big brother is happy.”

“I… kind of don’t want deepest secrets this time. He’s a disciple of the mountain so it’s not like he’s going to have the typical family gossip.” Yu shrugged. “I don’t know. Something about this one makes me want to figure those out for myself—if he even gives me the time of day. He’s already had a blade pointed at my face. Maybe that has something to do with it.”

The long way around involved multiple changes of scenery. The boy dipped through back rooms and empty corridors, emerged into his favorite garden and slid open the back door to his room, retrieving the vase in which he kept that pretty piece of jewelry.

“If the info is comprehensive and thorough, then I will be happy.” Frowning as he took a final look at the gift in his own hand, Yuhui then held out his palm to the girl.

Mischief maker fingers wrapped around the hairpin; Miyan was a terrible winner, a worse loser—just like Yuhui.

“I’ll be thorough,” she assured as she tucked the pin carefully into her hair, trickster grin never fading from the curl of her lips. “I promise.”