Royan’ Mu was seated on a wide sofa without armrests, fully dressed in her wedding wudan, the rhinestones glued to the silver colored fabric glinting in the soft light seeping through the high windows. Her densely braided hair was held up with two carved hairpins, and golden bangles adorned her long dark arms.

She was playing listlessly with a small red pouch. At the sound of the door opening, she raised her head.

“Tez’,” she beamed, “is it time to escort me already?”

Tez’ Mu froze.

He was surprised he made it here before his mother.

Looking at her beautiful face, her eager smile, her twinkling eyes, her elegant dress, he gulped. Oh no, oh no, what will happen now?

“What’s wrong?” Royan’ Mu grinned, throwing the pouch aside and placing her hands in her lap, “Did you just come to see me? It’s not yet time is it? I haven’t heard the bells.”

Tez’ Mu remained mute. He did not know what to say. He did not know why he was here. Why is mother not here yet, he almost cursed. He could not just leave the room now.

Royan’ Mu sighed as she shifted on the sofa.

“Hah. I’m going to miss living here. I know I can come visit anytime I feel like; just look how often mother visits the Kest Manor; but it won’t be the same,” she looked around the room fondly, “I’ve had all of my things moved to the Yan Manor, but it still like my room. I’ll miss it.”

Tez’ Mu glanced around the room wordlessly. It was bare; even the bed had been moved. Only the empty wardrobe and the sofa Royan’ Mu was sitting on remained.

“Tez’,” Royan’ Mu had her eyebrows raised now, “What is going on?”

“Nothing,” Tez’ Mu managed to say, his throat dry, “Mother is on her way.”

“What is mother coming to do? She just left. Heng came to call her. He said Father wanted her. Did Her Majesty come?” She chuckled, “That’s the only thing he would need Mother for today; to greet her.”

“No.” Tez’ Mu was swearing in his mind now. He wanted to leave so badly. He couldn’t imagine his sister’s face in a few moments when… He shivered.

“Of course not,” Royan’ Mu chuckled, not noticing his discomfort, “But the palace should send a representative, though, for Father’s sake if not anything else.” She suddenly frowned up at Tez’ Mu, “Wait...you’re not hiding here from Keiran’ Ru, are you?”

“No.” Tez’ Mu was unsure why his sister would think that.

“Oh, Tez’. I know. There’s no need to—” the door was pushed open and Tez’ Mu heaved a sigh of relief. But it wasn’t his mother.

It was Nuren, Royan’ Mu’s servant.

“My lady!” She screeched, “My lady!—oh no!” She rushed forward and fell to her knees at Royan’ Mu’s feet, sobbing hysterically.

“What’s wrong? What is it?” Startled, Royan’ Mu quickly raised her up, “Talk to me, Nuren! What happened?”

But Nuren could not talk. She was choking on her tears, shaking her head from side to side, consumed in grief. Essa-kest’ Mu entered at that moment. Glancing down at the sobbing maid, she paled.

“Royan’—?” Essa-kest’ Mu crossed the room and immediately threw her arms around her daughter, “Something dreadful has happened, Royan’. I need you to be strong. Eima, take Nuren out,” she said to her own maid, who hurried forward quickly and dragged Nuren out of the room.

Royan’ Mu had gone pale.

“What happened, mother?” Her voice came out strained. Essa-kest’ Mu said nothing, only rubbing her shoulders with her face contorted in pain.

Royan’ Mu shuddered, seeing her mother’s expression. “Did something happen? Did something happen to Dor’ Yan?”

“Royan’, listen to me. You have to be strong—”

But Royan’ Mu was not going to listen. She snapped her finger and a teleportation scroll appeared in her hand summoned from her spatial ring. She tore it in two even as everyone in the room screamed in shock.

***

A courtyard, empty.

An ornate fountain stood in the middle, its centerpiece a lynx frozen mid-snarl, shooting jets of water out of its hollow eyes. Rows of potted plants and flowers lined the concrete edges, but the most astonishing detail was the scarlet trail of blood leading away from the fountain.

A body sprawled face down, half concealed beneath the delicate boughs of a cherry blossom tree. Petals drifted lazily from above, settling on man’s matted hair, also tangled with leaves and twigs.

He was unmoving, quite still, his limbs splayed in unnatural angles.

Beside the fountain, Royan’ Mu appeared abruptly, throwing aside two pieces of a scroll. She raised her head and sniffed, then noticed the blood.

“Ah—!” She hitched her elaborate skirts up and sprinted to the body, turning it over as she dropped to her knees. The man’s face was a ruin of torn flesh and shattered bone.

A strangled gasp escaped her throat.

Royan’ Mu started to shake, clutching the man’s chest, frantically searching for signs of life. But there was none. A dry trail of blood was on the side of his mouth. His eyes were open, glassy orbs without life.

“Dor’ Yan!” she screamed, her voice so full of anguish it startled the birds resting on the cherry tree into flight.

“Help!” She shouted towards surrounding buildings, cradling his bloodied head to her bosom, not minding the blood or the dirt. But it was pointless. There was no one to help.

They were all lying dead wherever they had fallen.

The lynx fountain wept its endless stream, the cherry blossoms continued their gentle fall, and the woman knelt in the blood-soaked earth, her screams unanswered, her world unraveling.

The House of Yan had been annihilated, and with it, the last vestiges of hope and a new beginning.