The training dummy crashed backwards, splinters of wood showering off it while an arm exploded away from it. Its momentum was arrested in mid-air by the qi shield around the practice circle, before it fell to the ground with a thud.

I swiped a sweaty strand of hair out of my eyes, breathing deeply as I surveyed the results of my technique. If the training dummy hadn’t been enchanted to resist these sorts of things, I wouldn’t have much left to go on, but I’d clearly overwhelmed those protections. Maybe I should upgrade them.

Later, though. I wasn’t done yet.

I turned around to face the next dummy, which was enchanted to move around. Narrowing my eyes, I considered its trajectory, then released another lance of light from my palm. The dummy sped up as it sensed the motion, but I’d anticipated that, and my blast caught it full in the chest area. This time, I whirled around quickly, drawing Fides from my storage ring and shooting a Void’s Nibble at the other one. The shield bubbled and popped under the technique, and I could sense the enchantments on its torso unraveling.

“Next,” I said, and the guards obliged me by throwing more of them into the ring.

Over the next few minutes, I methodically demolished a dozen of the training dummies. An actual spar would have been better training, but there was something to be said for practicing your attacks without having to worry about someone hitting you in the face. Not to mention it felt good to just be able to smash stuff. I cracked my neck and stepped out of the training ground.

“Feel better?” Aston asked blandly.

I shot him a look, then shrugged. “A little.”

I walked away from the training courtyard, letting the cool breeze play over my face and drawing a deep breath of the fresh air it carried from the mountains. It was noticeably getting colder. A few guards trailed behind me, while Aston came to walk beside me. When I glanced at him, his expression was calm, though he quirked an eyebrow once he caught me looking.

“I can’t help but think about what Isuro said,” I finally spoke. “About how I could just remove myself from this conflict. It got me thinking, why am I really doing all of this? It’s not like I really have to, if it comes down to it. Not just the research, but participating in the war, all of that. And of course there’s the threat of being killed by an angry Greater Spirit.”

Aston listened in silence, only waving his hand to erect a qi privacy shield, then nodded. “Very understandable concerns. Although I’d note that the most obviously safe course isn’t necessarily so. You’ve already mentioned you want to ascend to immortality, the path to that can’t avoid adversity.”

I frowned. “Maybe. Immortality is a bit of a different topic. I mean, I do want to ascend to the white stage eventually. You can’t put me in front of basically an entire other plane of existence and expect me not to want to explore it. Though it’s not as if I’m in a hurry with that, like the eighth stage. Well, that’s an academic difference right now.”

Aston raised an eyebrow. “Your entire reason for ascending is curiosity?”

“Not the entire reason, but probably most of it. So?”

“Most people have more ambitious reasons to strive for it. Like power, or, of course, attaining immortality.”

I fell silent for a moment, turning on another path through the garden of the outer courtyard we were on right now, heading closer to the main palace. We weren’t exactly moving quickly, but I wasn’t in a hurry. “The thing with immortality is a little different for me than most people, I think.”

“How so?”

I shrugged, glancing at him. “I suspect I may already be physically immortal, Aston. Though I can obviously still be killed.”

He blinked, then frowned, his stride slowing as he clearly considered that. “Your shapeshifting ability?”

“Yes. I can change my body pretty extensively, and I already know I can make myself look younger or older. It stands to reason I can use that to prevent dying of natural causes.”

Aston was silent for a moment. He shook his head. “I hadn’t considered that, my lady.”

I sighed. “I don’t think anyone else has realized the implications of it yet. Maybe Tenira or Lei. I’m not really sure what to think of it myself, to be honest.” I shrugged. “And it doesn’t make much of a difference right now.”

He nodded, but didn’t speak, clearly sensing that I was finished talking about this for now. Although this conversation had, ironically, helped me deal with Isuro’s visit better. It reminded me of what I’d already told myself. This was my world, and I’d be living in it for a very long time. It was not just my moral duty but simple common sense to make that a good place to live in the long run. Not to mention I wanted to protect my friends and family, and I could do that better from a position of power.

I didn’t trust that they wouldn’t go after them to get leverage against me even if I gave up the throne and went into self-imposed exile, anyway. I really needed to deal with the whole spirits situation soon.

I shook those thoughts off. The rest of the way, we walked in silence, though I slowed once we neared the building Kariva’s group had taken over. It was bristling with more and more wards and defensive measures. But I couldn’t sense her presence, and a cursory sweep with my qi senses failed to find her in there. I'd have noticed that earlier, if I wasn’t preoccupied with my thoughts.

“Is Kariva in there?” I asked Aston.

He shook his head. “She could hide well enough to fool my senses, but I doubt it.” He paused for a moment. “No, she’s farther out, on the lower slopes near the quartz gate, with a few of her agents.”

I sighed, then turned around. “Let’s go, then. That will teach me to call ahead next time.”

We moved more quickly this time, helped by the fact that the outer paths were almost empty. I didn’t want to waste any more time on this than I had to, so it didn’t take us long to reach the gate he’d named and locate the group of Kariva and a few weaker cultivators. I recognized one of them as Wei Min. It looked like he’d just entered through the gate, and judging by his torn clothes, bloodstains, and slightly singed hair, he’d come from a fight. Perhaps with the person he was dragging along, probably just handing off, who had a bag over their head and enchanted rope tied around them. Their qi signature was muted, but probably not weak originally.

“Am I interrupting?” I asked as I arrived.

“Not really, my lady,” Kariva answered. “Were you looking for me?”

I nodded, but glanced at the prisoner again. “Just a small question. What’s going on here? One of your clanmates, Wei Min?”

The man in question shifted, clearly a little bothered. “Yes, Your Highness.”

I swallowed further questions. It was pretty easy to see what was going on here, anyway. Kariva was using Wei Min and his knowledge or contacts to take out Wei cultivators. I should talk to him later. But first, Kariva was stepping aside, clearly inviting me to join her. I walked over.

“How can I help you?”

I scratched my cheek, trying to find the best way to approach what I wanted to say. “It’s about clan business, actually. Leri Anacis approached me earlier. About wanting to get married.”

She hadn’t outright said so, but it was clear she’d been asking for permission from me. I hadn’t expected something like this, even though I probably should have, and wasn’t quite sure how to handle it.

Kariva raised an eyebrow. “If you have concerns about her, maybe you should talk to Tenira about this, instead, as Anacis is her aunt. I’m sure she can tell you more about the matter.”

I shook my head. “It’s not that.” Although that would definitely make me inclined to give my permission if I wasn’t already, since I didn’t want to make Tenira angry. “It’s just that she went to me instead of you, so I wondered if you would have an issue with it?”

Kariva frowned. “I don’t see any reason to care, my lady. I think she just wanted to do things properly.”

I exhaled, nodding. I needed to remember that Mother’s absence made me responsible not just for the Empire in general, but that I was also the heir of clan Leri. From what I could tell, Kariva acted as the de facto clan head at the moment, but I was supposed to be in charge, at least in principle.

“Good. By the way, I appreciate you handling things, but have you had any trouble with the clan?”

Kariva waved a hand dismissively. “There’s not much to do. Acura was never the hands-on or controlling type, and this isn’t some big sect.”

“Well, carry on then.” I smiled wryly. Then I looked back at the other agents, noting that they’d pulled off the prisoner’s bag. He was a youngish man with a faint resemblance to Wei Min, clearly unconscious.

Kariva and I returned to to them, and although I realized they might prefer it if I left, I lingered. I wanted to know what kind of things they were doing.

“So, you captured him?” I asked Wei Min.

He stiffened, but seemed to realize that he wasn’t getting out of answering my questions. “Yes, my lady. This is one of my cousins, who was commanding a small outpost of the traitors’ forces about two hundred leagues to the west. I approached him quietly, and he welcomed me because of our old bond. I told him a slightly modified version of recent events and sounded him out for sympathizers within the clan, then captured him as part of an offensive to take their outpost.”

I grimaced. No wonder this was hard on him. It was one thing to infiltrate the Zarian, our enemies, but another to use those tactics against family members. “Would you walk with me for a bit?” I asked.

He bowed his head and fell into step beside me as I left. Aston and the guards retreated to give us some space, while Kariva and the other agents took the prisoner away.

“I realize this can’t be easy, Wei Min,” I finally said. “I appreciate the loyalty you’re showing, both to my family and me personally. I just want to see if you’re alright with all this.”

The agent was silent for a while. Finally, he seemed to come to a decision, and shook his head. “I’m not alright with it, my princess. How can I be, when I’m fighting my family? But my resolve is strong, nonetheless. I won’t disappoint you.”

I sighed a little. “I won’t hold it against you if you’re having problems,” I said. “To be honest, I have no idea what kind of boss Kariva is, but I don’t want to see anyone pushed so hard they break.”

Especially someone like Wei Min, who was in a crucial position for this. Not just for my bid to bring his family over to my side, but for later. I didn’t believe in killing generations of my enemies or wiping out whole clans, and I’d definitely object if Kiyanu wanted to eradicate the Wei completely. The clan’s future would go better for everyone if Min could assure a smooth transfer of power and continuing loyalty.

He nodded. “Thank you, Your Highness. But I will not break, even if I lose my family. I believe I am strong enough to follow my path regardless, and do what is right.”

I stopped. From where we stood, we had a good view down the slope of the mountainside, and this was a pretty secluded spot.

“You know, a part of me admires your dedication to your ideals. I’m not sure if I could do the same,” I admitted.

He tilted his head. “Surely you have your own convictions that you follow, Princess Inaris? I can’t imagine someone accomplishing as much as you have without something driving them.”

“Family versus principles.” I shrugged. “Do you know how many of my principles I have broken or bent in the last year or two?” I raised my eyebrow, waiting for a moment, although the question was clearly rhetorical. “Quite a few.”

“Truly?”

“I’ve killed people, had people hurt and killed, probably caused the death of quite a few more. I’m actively participating in and enabling a system that … I don’t find ideal.” That my old self would have condemned. “It wasn’t particularly hard; in fact, I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t found it freeing.” I shook my head. “But I don’t regret any of these, and I do think I have caused, and ultimately will cause, quite a bit more good than harm. Sometimes there are no simple and easy choices, Wei Min.”

He frowned, then nodded slightly. “Thank you for confiding in me, my lady. I believe I understand your point.”

“I hope so.” Although I expected that what he’d take away from this conversation was probably different from what I’d intended to express. But that was alright. I’d partly just vented my own feelings.

“If it’s a matter of choosing what to fight for, and what we’re willing to lose? I think I know my answer, though I’ll have to continue pondering it.”

I smiled. “Well, I won’t keep you any longer.”

He hesitated, then nodded, and we walked back to Kariva and the other agents. I thought he might have somewhere else to be, or not want anything to do with it, but he stuck close.

Once we reached Kariva, she nodded at the other agents and let them go on ahead while she stopped. She looked from me to Wei Min and raised an eyebrow. “Something the matter?”

It was only now I noticed that Wei Min was still quite tense. He cleared his throat, looked from me to Kariva and back, and ran a hand through his hair before he finally spoke up. “My lady, I’ve come to a decision. I’d like to ask for your leave to go to clan Wei alone, and talk to my father and uncle. Even in the worst case, they won’t hurt me too badly, and I might get critical information.” He glanced at me. “And I’m sure I can convince them.”

Kariva frowned. “I see. You realize what you are asking for?”

He nodded.

I hummed thoughtfully, then took a step forward and smiled. “A bold proposal. Kariva, I say let him go.”

She raised an eyebrow. “As you wish, my princess. Wei Min … do your best.”

He bowed to both of us. “I won’t disappoint you, my ladies.”

“Good luck.” I shrugged at Kariva, then turned to leave.

I knew she was putting a good deal of trust in him, but I didn’t worry about that. I knew he wouldn’t betray us. I’d gotten a good read on him during our conversation. And there was another reason, a more subtle feeling.

My father giving me another helpful nudge, probably.

Tonight was going to be a full moon. I climbed up to the top of the palace’s highest roof and settled down for a long cultivation session in the moonlight.

My cultivation was still going strong, but I hadn’t found much time for it. At this rate, it would be a while before I advanced again, and I hadn’t forgotten that I needed to reach the eighth stage quickly.

Besides cultivation, I also needed to check on my research team and results from other groups, and sort out a few matters with Kiyanu. There was a lot to keep me busy.

Three days later, we received a message from General Wei. It fluttered down to where Kiyanu and me were talking from the sky, carried by a qi construct in the form of a fiery little bird. The missive was brief, its message clear. He wanted to talk again.

I reached out to pet the little qi bird, which pushed its pleasantly warm feathers into my hand, and smiled.