Min sat in her office and cycled Swirling Mists, concentrating on the combination of luxes inside her. A little too much orange, she decided, and purged it out through the hand pressed against the warm boards of her office.

  Her core was dense, though not as full of lux as she would have liked, since it had been weeks now since she'd been into a tower. She felt as though she were making progress toward the Peak of Spiritual Refinement.

  Reaching the Peak of Mental Refinement had been an eye-opener for her, as well as giving her the first insights into her own Intent. She wasn't yet able to formulate it the way Chang-li could, but she knew it was wrapped up in who she was. Chang-li's own words just the other day were helping her there. Who she was now came from who she had been a few months ago, or as a girl. But she wasn't that person anymore, and clinging to her old roles when her new one yawned in front of her was only holding her back

  Min’s identity had changed as she grew and lived. Things she had been before no longer impacted who she was becoming.

  She had been, for a while, a member of the Gem Court, one of the nobles to be used in an arranged marriage to keep cultivators under control. She'd had her own reasons for being there, which had culminated in her forced marriage to Chang-li. Probably the best mistake she'd ever made in her life, she could admit at least to herself. But that had never been an identity, just a mask she was wearing.

  She was no longer a member of the governor's family of Riceflower Province. That felt like a shed snake skin, something she'd crawled out of because it had become too small. Without turning her back on her family, she no longer considered that identity to be something she needed to uphold. Should she encounter her brother, the governor of Riceflower Province, again, they would be civil. They would even find common cause. But she owed them nothing more. She had made the marriage her brother required in order to preserve the family's honor. As far as she was concerned, those accounts were squared.

  The Brotherhood was a trickier matter. Even now, the connections between Morning Mist and the Brotherhood proliferated. She had no intention of separating them. Her skills at managing a Brotherhood and negotiating agreements came in handy for the sect, but it wasn't who she was.

  No. She was Min of Morning Mist. For now, the head spouse of the sect. Even when Hiroko claimed that title, Min knew in her heart of hearts she would always feel that responsibility. On top of that, she was a cultivator in her own right, approaching the Peak of Spiritual Refinement.

  If she could master her own Intent and upgrade her cultivation just a bit more, she would be there. The path of Morning Mist was showing her the way.

  And most delicately of all… she was the wife of Morning Mist’s most advanced disciple, his companion on this journey. That was part of who she was, and one she had never expected to matter as much as it did. How did that reflect in her Intent? Min still wasn’t sure. She allowed herself to consider where they might find themselves as years stretched to decades. Heads of the sect? Teachers of hundreds of students? Parents, once the sect was better established? She allowed herself to imagine the children they would have together. At least three, she thought. Raised in the sect, born to be cultivators.

  That wasn’t helping her now. Min looked back at her path manual. She had the thin book open to its sixth and penultimate page. Master Noren's words seemed to hold new value every time she studied them. The imagery of the mist evoked emotions and half-formed thoughts in her mind, ideas that tried to resonate with her Intent.

  She closed her eyes and imagined a misty night in Varden City, when the mists rose off the surface of the lake to climb halfway, three-quarters, even all the way up the Riceflower, swathing its buildings in mist. Those had been the nights when the Brotherhood could move freely, making bargains they didn't want prying eyes to see.

  The mist concealed. More than that. In those misty alleys, she had learned the truth the Brotherhood swore by: in darkness, obscured by mist, without badge and rank, people were the same. What mattered was who you had at your back.

  "The mist conceals," she thought, and felt a stir from within her. That wasn't quite right.

  "The mist gathers."

  That was closer.

  There was a knock on her door, interrupting her thoughts. Min quickly ended her cycling, gathering her lux back into her core carefully, avoiding losing any more scraps. "Come," she said as she scrambled to her feet.

  One of the new assistants she'd hired, a maternal woman in her mid-forties, entered.

  Ehm Ma had taken over most of the housekeeping duties from Min and was helping her keep an eye on the junior cultivators. They'd caught several of the younger ones trying to sneak out halfway over the wall after dark to go party or whore or drink in Taishin City. Min knew they couldn't afford that sort of behavior. "What is it, Ehm?"

  "A visitor for you, my lady." Em curtseyed and stepped back. “Radiant Pearl Eichira.”

  A dowager swept in, this one fairly young, with a haughty look to her. She eyed Min imperiously. Min quickly made the appropriate deference from a head sect spouse to a dowager.

  The dowager's eyes narrowed. "You are Guo Min, interim head spouse of Morning Mist?"

  "I am head spouse of Morning Mist," Min said evenly. Whatever was or wasn't to come, she would not be looked down on now.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  "Yes, well. Fortunately for all of us, the impropriety of having a red noble as the head spouse of a charter sect will soon be remedied.”

  Min allowed herself a quick stroke of irritation at the dowager's manner, then took a deep breath. This woman was clearly only just out of the Imperial Palace grounds. Since she wore the black, it meant she had not borne a child to the Emperor, and would now be permitted no lovers, no children of her own, for the rest of her life. She would find her duty in managing the Empire. Some dowagers found that lot harder than they had expected.

  Still, if that was her attitude, being assigned to the Gem Court was a terrible mismatch. Min almost felt sorry for the woman.

  "What can I do for you, Your Radiance?"

  "Morning Mist is being honored with a Moonlight Revel, hosted on the very edge of the Imperial grounds," Dowager Eichira said. "Two nights from now, you are instructed to bring every unmarried member of your sect who has reached at least the first Peak. The ball will begin at sundown and end at dawn."

  Min felt a stab of dread sweep over her. "Your Radiance, we have over a hundred disciples who would match those qualifications."

  "The Gem Court is entirely aware of how many," the dowager said. She gave Min a tight-lipped smile, "and exactly what mix of sexes and preferences they have. Be assured there will be plenty of gem nobles of the lower ranks to meet them. The Gem Court has decreed that you have already been honored with one indigo princess and will receive no more royals until a proper match is made for your sect master."

  Min's heart skipped a beat. "Sect master?" she managed.

  "Marriage, of course. A charter sect master who is being considered as a Prism candidate with no spouse is an offense to all propriety—“

  “Min, my dear.”

  Min started as Noren breathed into the room past the dowager.

  "I was just on my way to speak with your husband, and I thought I heard my name being misused."

  "No one here has spoken your name," Min said.

  "Then I think I was hearing the absence of my name misused," Noren said. He bowed low to the dowager. "Dowager, your invitation is most gracefully accepted on behalf of myself and my sect. I also would urge you not to make any efforts on my own behalf. I assure you, I have no need of your assistance in matters matrimonial.”

  The dowager blinked rapidly a handful of times. Min felt almost sorry for her as Noren turned his full force upon her. "Dowager Eichira, I must say, you are a much more pleasing sight than your great-grandfather. He and I had words recently, shortly after he missed his opportunity to become Prism. I know the Purple Lotus Sect was hoping to elevate its fortunes further. I suppose they will have to be content with a princess joining their ranks.”

  The dowager looked absolutely incensed. She drew herself up. "Grandmaster Noren—“

  "Yes, what am I thinking? May I offer you some tea in my own study?" Noren gestured outward.

  The dowager sniffed. "No, thank you," she said, whirling on her heel and disappearing. Min heard the series of loud footsteps in the hall, a pause as the dowager slipped on her street shoes, and then the door of the compound banging behind her.

  She turned to Noren, who was stifling a laugh. As she looked at him, he broke down completely into chuckles. "Forgive me, Min. That was just too great an opportunity."

  "She's one of the Gem Court. We don't really want to make them our enemies," Min pointed out.

  Noren waved a hand. "Yes, well. She's a Purple Lotus scion. She's already our enemy. They are quite jealous of our newfound success, and as I said, their own recent attempts have ended miserably. They thought a princess would bring further opportunities but there are princesses and princesses, I think you’ll find.”

  "Grandmaster, I was hoping to find an excuse not to bring the entire sect. We don't have nearly enough of us to supervise so many cultivators. The party is at the edge of the Imperial grounds, starting at dusk and ending at dawn."

  Noren's eyes narrowed. "I see. You think they have decided to ensure our cooperation with their marriage schemes one way or another?"

  Min nodded. "I'm afraid so."

  She had only attended a handful of Gem Court parties herself, and those on the outskirts of Empire, but she'd heard plenty of stories. A nightlong party like that could only mean the Gem Court was going to be pushing pairings hard. Min and Chang-li were hardly the only cultivator couple to have been rushed into a marriage after being found in a compromising situation.

  She could just imagine it now: cauldrons full of spiked punch. Beautiful, attractive, and eager young Gem nobles, men and women both, flattering the Morning Mist cultivators, most of whom had come from peasant stock and would be easy targets for a Gem Court noble on the hunt.

  "Well," Noren said, "they've got to marry sooner or later, and it has to be Gem Court anyway, so we might as well make the most of our situation. Just think: if they marry in bulk, we can do a mass wedding and save so much money!”

  Noren was right about one thing: sooner or later, their cultivators would get married. If she wanted the sect to be prepared for an influx of new spouses, she needed to start preparing now, rather than fretting about something she could not stop.

  "Thank you for that, Grandmaster," Min said.

  "Now, to more important matters. How is your progress along our path?"

  "Coming fairly well, actually," Min said. She explained her thoughts.

  Noren nodded. "Hm, interesting."

  Min deflated at that. "Am I wrong?" she asked. "Is that the incorrect understanding?"

  Noren considered her. "Imagine a vast forest. You must pass from one side of it to another. The forest is filled with a mist obscuring the path, but you have a guide stone in your hand that always points you to the far side of the forest. You begin walking through. You hear others in the forest and know they, like you, are seeking a path to the other side. Will you use the guide stone given, or will you try to join the others who are as lost in the fog as you are?"

  Min blinked, trying to understand what Noren was talking about.

  "I would use the guide stone, of course," she said.

  Noren nodded and smiled. "Precisely. The answer I expect from you. Min, in this case, the path manual is your guide stone. As you follow it, the steps you take may not be precisely those of other members of your sect. Don't get distracted by them. Focus on your own path. Now, one area you need to improve if you're strengthening your will is your use of spiritual luxes. Chang-li tells me you have one spiritual lux technique already."

  "I do," Min said, and began explaining Thousand Whispers to him. Proudly, she recounted how she had used it during the crucial fight against Inquisitor Yoonji to coordinate the disciples. She stopped mid-sentence, her mouth dropping open as she realized just how valuable that technique was about to become.

  "Excuse me, Grandmaster." Min curtseyed. "I have a great deal of preparations to make before the party. For one thing, some of our cultivators are going to need wardrobe changes. May I have permission to access the lux batteries we brought with us from the Morning Mist Sanctum?"

  "Of course," Noren said, before tossing her the key to the room where those were stored. “Take care, though. It may be some time before we can refill them. In my absence you have the keys.”

  She froze. "You're leaving? Now?"

  "Just as soon as I have spoken with your husband. Dowager Eichira reminded me I have some unfinished business to handle. But the Gem Court affair is in your capable hands," Noren said grandly, and was gone before she had any more chance to react.