Page 109 of The Blood Orchid

I turned to Gao’an. “How did you know to hide here?”

She frowned, crossing her arms. “Well, I didn’t exactly want to wander into the afterlife.”

I glanced at Hong. “I mean, it’s very difficult for people to not do that,” I said delicately. “Unless they’re trained alchemists.”

Gao’an raised an eyebrow, her frown deepening.

“You?” I said. “You’re an alchemist? Just how old are you?”

“Ah, Zilan,” Hong said quickly, taking my hand. “Apologies, I don’t think I ever fully explained this to you. Yiyang and Gao’an are not as young as they appear. They are actually my older sisters.”

I sighed, closing my eyes. I should have guessed—the royal court already had a laundry list of morally questionable practices. Feeding little girls life gold to keep them young and cute for decades wasn’t uncommon among rich families.

“I’m not quite at the level of a royal alchemist,” Gao’an said, uncrossing her arms, “but my mind is disciplined enough to stay grounded in a place like this, and to look out for others.”

For others?

I remembered Zheng Sili and Yufei disappearing into the darkness when we’d come here together, the forest that had called my name and reached for me just before I’d fallen into Gaozong’s river.

“Were you the one who hid Yufei and Zheng Sili?” I said.

She nodded, smiling proudly. “I tried to help you too, but you ran away from me and fell in the river.”

I laughed, shaking my head in disbelief. “Well, thank you for trying,” I said. “And for protecting Hong when I couldn’t.”

Hong smiled and ruffled her hair, but she quickly swatted his hand away.

I glanced back at the dam. “And I suppose both of you did this?”

Hong nodded proudly. “Gao’an used metals in the earth to bring the trees down with alchemy. It took a bit longer than we hoped.”

“It’s impressive,” I said. “I never thought to do this. I didn’t know you even knew he was alive.”

“He came here often to visit the Empress,” Gao’an said, wrinkling her nose. The fact that Gaozong had ordered her mother—Consort Xiao—executed probably had something to do with it.

I looked to Hong. Though he’d never been that close to his father, he hadn’t wanted to leave the palace without him. Surely he still cared for him.

As if reading my thoughts, he shook his head. “It’s all right, Zilan,” he said quietly. “When I was hiding with Gao’an, I heard my parents talking. He knew that the Empress had killed me, but he didn’t...” He paused, as if selecting his next words carefully. “He never asked why, or how, or where I was. He was never upset with her for it.”

“Hong,” I said gently, squeezing his hand.

“It’s fine,” he said, as if trying to convince himself. “I knew what our family was like, Zilan. I’ve always known. It was foolish of me to think my father was any different.”

“You’re not foolish for hoping there is good in people,” I said. If Hong had been as cynical as me, if he’d looked at me and seen nothing but a brash merchant girl, then we would have been strangers forever.

The prince adjusted his grip on my hand to hold it tighter, and at once I felt the cold press of his rings on my skin. I pulled back and took his hand, my gaze falling to his red diamond ring, wrapped in the wings of a golden phoenix.

“This is it,” I said, squeezing his hand. “This is the last ring, Hong.”

His eyes went wide, then he pulled away and tore the ring off like it was on fire, setting it in my palm.

“This is the last piece?” he said, the words so quiet, as if afraid to be wrong.

“Yes,” I said. “The next time I see you, we’ll be in the palace together.”

My words sounded more confident than I felt—after all, I still hadn’t tried the transformation to bring me to Penglai Island, but I could give him nothing else but hope. He pulled me close, tight against his chest.

“We’ll be home,” he whispered into my hair.

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