When both princes were dismissed from their disappointed father’s chambers, Miyan was lying in wait. She knew from all the whispers that her brothers were leaving her behind, too young to be useful in arena, too precious to take on a journey up the mountain without their mother leading the way.

By now, the teen was used to Xiaoxu leaving—Yuhui accompanying him, however, was another matter entirely.

Once the oldest brother had passed through the doors and past her checkpoint, the Tian princess blocked her middle brother’s path, a demanding little blockade dressed in pale cyan and celadon green.

“I’m using one of my wishes,” the girl stated plainly, hands on her hips as she confidently looked up at Yuhui, determination gleaming in her dark eyes.

“UUUuugh.” Yuhui made a face, a magical combination of contrasting moods mixed to perfection upon his features. He took the girl by the shoulders and turned her to the door their brother disappeared behind, urging her forward.

“Why do you have to do this right now?” the middle boy asked, aggravation heavy upon his tongue, stalking the edges of his every word. “This has to be quick, Mizi, I still need to get tea for Fei and go over the things that’ve been packed for me. Hurry up, tell me what you want.”

Miyan, however, didn’t budge, even when Yuhui moved toward the door. Instead, her voice warbled around her demand, shrill from the effort it took to hold back tears.

“I don’t want you to go,” the teen said, harsh in her attempt to cover the earnest emotion spilling all over the floor from her broken vase chest. “I wish… I wish you will stay here with me. You have to do it. We have a deal.”

“—oh. No. No, Miyan, I can’t.” Yuhui’s shoulders fell as he stopped trying to move the young girl, turning to face her in full again. He was remorseful now, eyes softened by an unsaid apology. “I have to go because I need this Millipede and now Xiao has bet his title on it and I don’t want to lose him. Do you?”

“You’ve never had to go before.” Miyan’s bottom lip trembled, her chin tucked. “Is this how it’s supposed to be? You go where I can’t follow and then I’m alone. I had two brothers, then I had none.” Suddenly the girl crouched on the ground, arms wrapped around her knees. “Something bad will happen. I can feel something bad is happening. It’s moving in the air, slithering like a snake, circling like a vulture. I—I change my wish: if you go no matter what, I wish that you will wait a day.”

“I have to go today. I’m going to get my weapon and need every moment I can get with it to practice.” Yuhui knelt down before his sister, arms open in an offering of comfort. “Besides, you’ll see us again. You’ll see me again for sure and even if we do lose the bet Xiao made, I’m positive dad will at least allow us all to say goodbye to him before he gets banished to Yunji with Ren Li. Fei is going tomorrow. Why don’t you spend the evening keeping him company?”

“What’s the point of these dumb wishes if I can’t use them?!” Miyan shouted in the face of her brother’s comfort, tears breaking past her lashes. Embarrassed, she pressed her palms to her eyes. “I don’t want Ren Fei, I want Tian Yuhui.”

“Ssssssh! Don’t be so loud. I was just trying to help you not be so alone.” The prince laid his ineffective arms upon his lap, biting his lower lip bent around a frown. “I’m sorry, Mizi. You know I would stay if I could but I need to do this. Please try to understand, okay? I’ll miss you… you can stay with me until I go, if you want. I’d really like it if you did.”

Standing abruptly, the girl pulled their mother’s hairpin from her hair and dropped it into Yuhui’s lap. She’d exhausted her anger and was left with a quiet sorrow festering and expanding to fill the space.

Miyan would spend the next week regretting that her pride had gotten in the way of a proper farewell but she simply couldn’t bear this burden, this goodbye was too heavy for her narrow shoulders. She would bow and snap under the weight if she stayed any longer.

“Just go.” Her voice naught but a mewling croak, Miyan retreated back toward their father’s receiving room, shuffling footsteps covering the lingering sniffles she tried her very best to hide.

“Mizi! Wait—” Yuhui jumped up and spun around, reaching out with fingers that failed to grasp his sister in motion. His heart sank as he watched the door to the room from which he earlier emerged shut again, knowing the exact degree of loneliness that girl would feel in the expansive palace without himself or their older brother to keep her company. He sighed and picked the hair pin that’d been discarded by his sudden movement up from the floor, tucking it into the fold of his robe. The middle child of the Tian clan took his leave down the hallway, heading to the kitchen to acquire the selection of his mother’s tea requested by his best friend.

Hours later, when all goodbyes were said and the house was left silent from the furious clomping of horse hooves swallowed down the gullet of distance, the night hung like a wicked inverse of everyone’s difficult day. Miyan would find a note neatly folded beneath her pillow. The handwriting was Yuhui’s own:

Mizi,

I know it’s probably embarrassing to hear your brother tell you that he loves you aloud, so I’ve saved you the trouble. I’ll miss you so much. Think good thoughts for me while I’m gone, okay? I can use all the help I can get.

In the meantime, I’ve taken the liberty of setting up a little game to keep you occupied while I’m away. There are six clues—seek one out a day and you will get a prize in the end. Play fair! Don’t cheat and skip ahead! Here is your first clue:

I am wan and wealthy,

I am gold and gleaming

I shine like a mirror,

I’m shaped like an egg.

My heart is dark,

but I smile like the moon—

I look best in springtime

surrounded by blooms.

Love,

Yu