Chapter One: Rude Awakening

“Xiuying, wake up!” A hand struck me across the face, accompanied by the shrill, grating yells of a woman. “I have been looking everywhere for you! How dare you stay behind in the Obsidian Terraces?! Your place is—”

I shied away from the next strike, huddling back against the wall. My pulse pounded in my throat as I wiped the sleep from my eyes and looked at the group of well-dressed women in front of me. With them, were a few men who looked worse for wear. Crude collars hung around their too-thin throats, their eyes dull and broken.

Whoever these women were, I wanted nothing to do with them. I wished they had let me continue sleeping.

“My lady!” Another woman grabbed the first by her sleeve. “This…this doesn’t look like Xiuying.”

The first, a fat woman, fell silent and scrutinized me as I cowered away from her. I quickly scanned my surroundings, trying to find something familiar or a route of escape. I didn’t want to draw further attention to myself. If I could escape without a fight, I would.

“Her clothes match the description you gave us,” a bored man spoke. He wore the same kind of armor I saw others in the Terraces wearing—black with silver and purple accents. “We let you back into the city so you could fetch your princess. Now you’re saying this isn’t her?”

Princess? What are these people on about? I studied the group of women again. They looked to be human, unlike the people living in the Obsidian Terraces. The women must have been confused, or perhaps mad, to think I was related to them in some way.

“Silence, man!” The fat woman snapped, raising a hand. “Learn your place and keep your mouth shut when women are talking.

“Xiuying, surely you remember your own mother? These disgusting men couldn’t have traumatized you so badly in so few months!”

I scrambled away from the woman, fleeing the little pile of blankets that had been my home since waking in the city a few days prior. The two women and their small party of servants frowned at me.

“I-I have no idea who you are, or what you want with me…” I stuttered, choosing to adopt a more innocent and unassuming facade. It was simpler than giving away my true position to them—if they’d even believe me.

The woman stopped, her face twisting when she heard my voice. She squinted at me, remaining silent for a few moments. “Xiuying, come back home. Your slaves miss you dearly and your younger sisters don’t want them.”

“We won’t force her to leave if she doesn’t want to.” The guard shrugged.

Within seconds, the fat woman attempted to slap him next. “She is coming with us, and away from this city of slaves!”

“What is all this racket?” The annoyed voice came from somewhere behind me, sliding over my skin like the most luxurious silk and so deep I felt the rumble of his voice in my bones. My instincts told me this new person was dangerous. I immediately grew still, watching as the woman grew pale and the guard bowed deeply.

“I-I am trying to understand why my eldest doesn’t recognize her own mother!” The woman wailed dramatically and without tears. “Is this some cultivator witchcraft concocted by your sect? Are you trying to ruin me? I could have every man under your rule enslaved and chained at my feet by this time next month!”

“You were graciously permitted to return and fetch your daughter despite your poor standing in the Obsidian Terraces!” The guard exclaimed, baring his fangs at the woman. “If she doesn’t want to leave—”

“That isn’t Xiuying!” A female servant stomped her foot. “Her skin, hair, and eye color are wrong! Xiuying isn’t a cultivator! She doesn’t have slit pupils!”

“Can you stand?” The deep, sensual voice was beside me this time. Startled, I looked up to find a man with elegant, chiseled features and long dark hair. Patches of glossy black scales were visible under his translucent robes. Draconic horns protruded from several parts of his skull. Tendrils of darkness danced around his wrists, ankles, and horns.

“A cultivator?” The fat woman snorted. “If Xiuying had attempted such foolishness I would have killed her myself!”

“I can stand…” I answered quietly before rising to my feet. The dragon-man’s mouth shifted into a subtle smirk before he looked back at the woman.

“You think this woman is your daughter?” He asked, causing the fat one to falter. “How would she have become a cultivator in these past few months? The girl you brought here before was a powerless brat, and that is why I refused your offer of marriage. This one…” he glanced at me and then to one of his guards, “I believe she matches the description of the woman who has been helping fight off the Blighted, does she not?”

“Yes, sir.” A man stepped forward and bowed. “The civilians have been providing her with food and drink for her efforts. I hear the bathhouses have been allowing her to use their facilities for free.”

“Yet you’ve been sleeping here like a stray?” The dragon looked toward me, then my sleeping spot.

“I demand compensation for forcing my daughter to live here like a peasant!” The fat woman declared. “And further compensation for corrupting her with the ways of cultivation. I heard you hated women, but to think you’d have a princess treated like this?!”

“Um…” I kept my voice low again, drawing the dragon’s attention. He studied me with mild interest as I pulled a crumpled piece of paper from my robes. Something told me he would know the significance. “I…I just woke up near here a few days ago, sir. I don’t remember anything from before that. There was so much blood…and this.”

One of his escorts took the paper from me and read it, his face soon growing white and twisting with horror. The man quickly turned to the dragon and spoke in hushed, hurried, tones.

“This stays between the three of us.” The dragon carefully folded the piece of paper and tucked it somewhere in his robes. “Lady Xu, calm down and take a good look at this woman. Do you truly believe her to be Xiuying?”

The fat woman waddled toward me and squinted again. She seemed to be measuring more than just my size as she peered at me. Finally, she frowned in confusion. “Those are Xiuying’s clothes. Did this whore steal them?”

“What a pitiful creature.” I sighed softly.

“Or perhaps you slew Xiuying as you threatened to do so many times during your stay here,” the dragon spoke coolly, a dark glint in his eyes. “Your distaste for cultivators has been noted. This woman will be staying here, where I can teach her to harness her power—unless you would prefer to take her home?”

“Power…” Lady Xu’s expression lit up. “In exchange for forgetting about whatever you people have done to Xiuying, you can marry this woman instead to seal a treaty with us. Then—”

“I have no interest in a treaty with a pig who keeps slaves,” the man stated, making a dismissive motion. “I will be keeping this woman and training her so she doesn’t destroy half my kingdom.

“Guards, see to it that Lady Xu and her entourage are out of the Terraces by nightfall. They are no longer welcome here.”

Several guards escorted Lady Xu away kicking and screaming. I breathed a small sigh of relief before turning to thank the strange dragon-man, only to find he was suddenly much too close.

“You have no idea who I am, do you?” The dragon inquired, intrigue written all over his face. “What do you remember?”

“Um… Language, how to read, some social etiquette,” I murmured, a small frown tugging at my lips. “Aside from things like that…all I know is that I’ve been living in the Obsidian Terraces, the people have been rewarding me for helping protect them from strange creatures, and the people are convinced their emperor hates women—oh.”

“I hate women, do I?” The dragon let out a genuine laugh, revealing his long upper and lower fangs. “Not at all true. I loathe distractions and disloyalty. The sort of women the other clans wish for me to marry are often both.”

“I’m afraid I don’t know proper etiquette…” I trailed off when the dragon shook his head.

“Show me this place you awoke in. I want a better understanding of how you came to my territory.” His casual demeanor caught me off-guard, leaving me with few options other than obedience.

I steeled myself, then led him through the maze of gardens between the palace and the rest of the city. In a secluded corner, behind rows of blooming bushes, an immense array of dried blood stretched across the grass. I hugged myself, shivering as the stony-expressioned dragon strode past me to study the intricate array of intersecting lines, circles, and lettering. Beside me, his aide had gone pale again.

“This Xiuying girl must have practiced cultivation in secrecy.” The dragon’s brow furrowed as he gracefully crossed his arms. He cast me a sideways glance, the corner of his mouth quirking upward. “Yet she attempted something far beyond her capabilities. Perhaps, had she been trained better, you would not have lost your memories upon transfer.”

“Unless it was intentional for her to lose her memories…” The aide coughed pointedly. A sharp look from the emperor silenced him.

“Xiuying must have suffered terribly under Lady Xu. Or…” The emperor turned to face me fully, head tilted to the side, and stroked his chin. “Mmm… No, that would be incredibly foolish, even for their clan.”

“Pardon?” I frowned.

The emperor turned his attention to the nervous aide. “Qiu, see to it that our newest novice is given suitable rooms. She will also need proper clothes, trinkets, and tools. I trust you can handle their acquisition?”

“O-of course.” Qiu gulped, wiping his sweaty palms on his robes. “I-I will fetch some servants, then take miss…”

“I suppose we shouldn’t call her Xiuying.” The dragon chuckled, turning to examine me, his eyes alight with mischief. “Have you any objections to being named by me?”

“No…” I spoke softly, shaking my head.

“Very well…” The dragon reached out and ran his fingers through my hair, lifting a handful of my soft white locks. “From now on, you will be known as Mingzhu. My palace will be your new home, and your new training grounds. Qiu and the others will make certain you are aware of the clan rules.”

Without another word, the dragon emperor wrapped himself in shadows and disappeared. Taken aback, I turned to look at Qiu for an explanation. “The…palace?”

“His Imperial Majesty is plotting trouble again.” Qiu sighed, his soldiers slumping. “The other clans pester him with constant proposals. If I know my master, he thinks the presence of a woman in the palace will quell their interference.”

The corner of my eye twitched. It made sense that he would only be so gracious to me if he was getting something out of it, but using me to avoid proposals? I refused to make that easy for him. Sighing, I crossed my arms and kept up a pleasant facade. “I really don’t require much. A few sets of clothes, and—”

“It would not do for you to look like a peasant!” Qiu abruptly shook his head, causing me to narrow my eyes at him. I sensed something else was the cause of his outburst. “T-that is, given that my master has decided to train you personally, you must look the part. I would not dare bring a scraggly kit before him!

“Come! We must make certain you have the finest silks!”

Qiu stormed off in the direction of the main path, giving me little choice but to hurry after him. A prickling sensation down my back made me glance to the side, discovering an unnatural shadow in the underbrush. When my gaze landed on it, it quickly darted away.

My new ‘teacher’ and he fails to hide himself properly? I shook my head to myself. No, it was more likely that man was testing me. There was something strange about how the people of the Obsidian Terraces had chosen to treat me, and I intended to find out what had caused it.