Pathway

It must have been market day, for a handful of merchants had set up stalls in the plaza, and there were more dwarves about than Ju Feng had yet seen, though not nearly as many as there should have been on such an occasion. A handful of families milled about, buying supplies, but there was a subdued quality to their movements. Most spoke in low voices instead of the loud, boisterous shouts and curses Ju Feng expected from a busy marketplace.

Soon, they arrived at tge palace of king Laggarma. Silence fell between them. Ju Feng noticed more guards than he'd seen yesterday clustered around the entrance to the king's hall. They parted when Ju Feng and Chang Chang approached, and one of the guards led them inside to a smaller hallway than the one that led to the king's audience chamber. At the end of the hall was a pair of doors. As they approached, the right hand door opened, and King Laggarma himself stepped through to greet them.

"You waste no time. Good." 

The king said. He fixed a keen gaze on both of them and continued. 

"Looking a little melancholy today, though, aren't you? What's it about? Beds uncomfortable—too short, were they?"

Ju Feng sensed the thread of humor running beneath the king's scowl and tried to respond in kind. 

"Not being overly blessed with stature, they were more than adequate for me. I'm afraid there's not a bed in the city big enough for my shadow, but it managed fine as well."

"Glad to hear it. So if you slept well, your dour faces must mean you've reconsidered our bargain."

The king reached out and took hold of the knob of the adjacent door, but his penetrating gaze never left Chang Chang's face.

"I haven't decided anything. The threat your city faces is a monstrous one. Even if I do what you ask with this drow prisoner, I don't see how it will make a difference in the fight that's coming."

Chang Chang said. 

"You let me worry about that." 

The king said—rather sharply, Chang Chang thought, but she had no time to ponder why he was agitated. He turned the knob and swung open the door. 

Ju Feng couldn't believe his eyes when he stepped into the king's library. The sheer size of the chamber, the vaulted ceilings, the rugs and furniture arranged around the room. A large table took up most of the space in the center of the room, but smaller, more inviting tables and chairs occupied the corners, arranged near a set of books resting under glass on marble pedestals. He'd been expecting a dark cell, or some other confined space where prisoners were interrogated, but this …

When he gazed at the books on the walls, Ju Feng grew lightheaded. The smell of old parchment filled his nose, and he fell into the scent as if into the trance of a powerful dreams and illusion cultivator. He'd always loved books, but the volumes of knowledge contained in this room eclipsed anything he'd ever seen in the libraries of his sects. This is knowledge, but he wasn't sure if they would contain martial and mystical arts techniques or cultivation techniques. 

Standing in the middle of it all, one arm leaned against the mantle of a huge marble fireplace, was the yaomo. He looked up from a book he held in his hands and met their gazes. For a breath, they made no reaction at all. The yaomo's presence was so out of place in the warm, inviting room, they thought he couldn't be real.

"What game is this?" 

The yaomo said.

Chang Chang jolted in surprise. The yaomo had spoken in a clea common language. His melodic voice was full of wary indignation.

"They're my guests." 

King Laggarma said. He nodded at Chang Chang. He made a gesture, and a pair of guards strode into the room, taking up positions near the door.

"She's here for the same reason you are, Gallazza. I told her you'd behave yourself."

"You send a child to interrogate me now?" 

Gallazza sneered before flashing a lascivious grin at Chang Chang. 

"Am I expected to roast the girl over the fire and devour her flesh to satiate some unholy appetite? No, she has barely enough flesh to make a meal. Still, there are other pleasures she might supply, for a tenday at least, before I tire of her."

Chang Chang materialized her glaive in an instant. The king stepped forward, and despite his shorter stature, he more than compensated with his bulk to block Chang Chang's path.

"He won't touch you, Chang Chang. You have my word. And the lady is not without her own protections. Don't mind him. I'm the one he wants to kill. He's bitter because he missed his chance. Aren't you, Gallazza?"

This time the yaomo actually smiled. 

"How much easier my task might have been, had I found you in the form of a statue. Were those simply legends, King—mad tales spun by your followers? Do your guests know what rumors your own people whisper about you?"

Ju Feng glanced at king Laggarma, but the king's face had gone cold, his silver eyes devoid of expression or apparent feeling. 

"Beyond the guards, there are protections in this room—older than any of the tomes—that will activate if the yaomo tries to attack. No, the only thing you have to fear from this one is his tongue. There is no greater weapon, no more lethal poison. He will try to break you with nothing more than words, and he has succeeded on many hapless souls in the past, I've no doubt. Take care and do not heed him."

Slowly, Chang Chang return her glaive back into her soul space. She hesitated, then turned to the king. 

"What did you mean when you said he and I are here for the same reason?" 

"The sphere." 

The king said and waited for it to sink in before continuing. 

"It has hidden itself somewhere in this library. Gallazza seeks it, too, so I've decided to let both of you look for it, though I have a feeling it will reveal itself to the lady first."

"You mean you don't know where it is? But how will I find it? I don't even know where to begin to look."

"If you prove worthy, it will find you." 

King Laggarma said, as if it were that simple.

Chang Chang knew she shouldn't have been surprised. She'd sensed the king was hiding something. Now her task seemed twice as impossible as before. 

"I need to speak with Ju Feng privately." 

Chang Chang told the king. She would have used her mind voice if she could.

King Laggarma nodded and replied . 

"Take your time." 

"I like nothing about this," 

Chang Chang began when they were back outside in the plaza.

"Hmmmm, neither do I. For whatever reason, king Laggarma thinks you will be able to find the sphere. One thing I'm sure of, if that yaomo dies under the dwarven Silver Fire, I for one won't shed any tears for him. Nor will any of the dwarves." 

Chang Chang shook herself to ward off the chill of the cavern. How easy it would be to justify the action if she let herself. No one would blame her this time. No one would mourn the loss of a yaomo who'd already taken dwarf lives and would take more if given the opportunity. 

"But it feels wrong."

"You've always had a soft heart, Chang. Too kind for a Xue Wu."

"One of my greatest faults. It's not just for the sphere itself that I'm considering this." 

She paused, gathering her courage. 

"I need to know something, Feng."

"Say it."

"If we get the sphere and it does what we hope it will do for me, is there a chance for us? These last days we've spent traveling together, I've become more and more certain of the prophecy I received about us. What will happen once you activate the Heavenstone?" 

"Fate is fate, Chang. I know about my fate and the prophecies that shape my destiny. Two fates bounded together by the sisters can't be undone. It's not my fate I'm worried about, it's yours. Can you accept my forsaken fate?"contemporary romance

"I see. Thank you for telling me. I won't have to wonder now. I'll search for the sphere while you aid the dwarves however you can."

"You want to go back in alone?"

"If I'm going to accept the king's bargain, I need to speak to him, and I need to do it alone. In the meantime, please take care of yourself. I couldn't … I don't want anything to happen to you."

She walked away without another word. Light steps carried her across the place. Allowing in any more emotion would have been a distraction to her heart. When she was back in the hallway, just outside the library door, alone, she rested her back on the door frame, and raised her head up. She recalled the words of her dreams and the divination of the oracles and nodded her head in acknowledgement. She would see how it would unfold. Then, she opened the library door, and stepped inside.

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