The wedding bells of the Forbidden City did not sound like a celebration to me. They sounded like the tolling of a funeral bell.
I stood before the tall bronze mirror, my reflection a stranger's face. I was draped in crimson and gold, the heavy silks of a Ming bride. My face was painted with the perfection of a porcelain doll, stiff, beautiful, and utterly hollow.
Behind me, the doors to the terrace were open. I could hear the music from the gardens below, where the "honored guests" had gathered. My family was there. My father, his chest puffed out with a pride he hadn't earned, telling anyone who would listen that his daughter was to be the bride of the Great General Renshu. He thought he had won. He thought his "investment" had finally paid off.
"You look radiant, Meilina," a voice drawled from the shadows.
I didn't turn. I knew the cadence of that voice. Wei Fang stepped into the light, leaning against the doorframe. He wasn't dressed for a wedding; he was dressed for a campaign. His eyes weren't on my dress. They were on something else entirely.
"Does the General know?" Wei Fang asked, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "Does he know that while he prepares to pledge his life to you, you are preparing to end your father's?"
"Renshu sees the world as he wishes it to be," I replied, my voice steady as a heartbeat. "He sees a wedding. He sees a family reunited. He sees a happy ending."
"And what do you see?"
I turned then, my eyes meeting Wei Fang's. For a moment, there was no mask. Only the cold, dark recognition of two predators standing in a room full of prey.
"I see a balance sheet," I said. "A debt was opened in Bharat ten years ago. Today, the interest has reached its peak. My father sold me to buy his future. Today, I am buying mine with his life."
Wei Fang's lips curled into a slow, appreciative smile. He didn't look horrified. He looked enlightened. "The General will never forgive you if he finds out. You'll be the reason for your own exile."
"Then I will rule the exile," I whispered.
I picked up the ceremonial wine cup from the table. It was gold, engraved with symbols of long life and prosperity. I looked at my reflection in the dark liquid.
"Renshu is a good man, Wei Fang. That is why he can never know. He is the heart of this empire. But I..." I looked toward the garden, where my father was laughing, holding a cup of wine I had personally selected. "I am the hand that keeps the heart beating. And the hand must stay steady, even when it is covered in blood."
I stepped toward the door, the heavy train of my wedding dress hissing across the floor like a warning.
"Let the ceremony begin," I said. "I shouldn't keep my guests waiting for their final meal."