Page 10 of The Nightblood Prince

“It is truly the luck of a lifetime to be able to gaze upon Miss Lifeng, with all her talents and beauty, Your Highness,” someone else added.

I wanted to laugh. What use was beauty? What use was any of this?

My gaze fell on the beautiful girls attending this feast, all dressed in intricately embroidered coats, draped in fur, and adorned with gold pendants cradling glimmering jewels. Some of them had drawn crimson marks of their own between their brows to imitate mine, and some had gone as far as adding tiny pearl beads to their foreheads to enhance their painted marks.

They coveted what I had, while all I wanted was a way to wipe away this mark like some day-old rouge and erase the prophecy from existence.

These visiting princesses and noble daughters were all here to catch glimpses of the noble sons, each seeking either the richest or the most powerful husband to advance their fathers’ and brothers’ paths in this world. Even those who had no interest in men.

Across the smoky fires, I watched as a man openly caressed the hand of a young servant girl with wide eyes and silky curls, while a woman with pinned-up hair who had to be his wife sat beside him in taut silence.

The servant girl quickly jumped away, and the man whispered something to the eunuch closest to him, then let out a leer so disgusting it made my stomach turn. His wife wordless and stoic through all of this. Forced to bear it all. He was her husband, and women without the protection of a powerful father or husband were treated as good as nothing in society.

No power.

No status.

I clenched my jaw so hard I hoped my beautiful white teeth would crack and shatter, become monstrous and sharp as a tiger’s fangs, and strike fear in the heart of every man who dared to gaze at me with wanton eyes.

I leaned back and waved over the head eunuch. “Don’t let that man anywhere near that servant girl. In fact, don’t let any of these men near any of the girls.”

He stared at me for a moment. “Such matters are not your concern, Lady Lifeng.”

I shot him a sharp look. “If I am to be empress one day, the well-being of every inner court servant is my concern.”

“Fei? Are you all right?” Siwang asked from his dais, brows knotted with worriment.

I forced my last smile of the night. “I’m feeling a little under the weather. Perhaps I caught a cold during the hunt today.”

He quickly rose to his feet, stepped down from his dais, and came toward my table. The buzzing of conversations quieted, just a little. Once at my side, he knelt down on one knee so we were at eye level and placed a hand on my forehead. “You don’t seem to have a fever. I will have the cook bring you some ginger soup and—”

“No!” I spoke too fast, too loudly. The chatter around us quieted further, and I felt the attention of the entire feast scorching me. “I am fine. I just need a long night of sleep. Please don’t send anyone to interruptme.”

Without waiting for Siwang to reply, I quickly rose to my feet, bowed my head to the rest of the guests, and walked away.

7

The stables were dark and cold. I contemplated taking Beifeng, the fastest horse in the empire and Siwang’s favorite. But someone would notice if the crown prince’s prized stallion was missing, just as someone would notice if my horse went missing—though not as quickly as they would notice Siwang’s missing steed. In the end, I climbed onto a thick-coated stallion at the far end of the stables, reserved for the guards and trained to withstand these wintry terrains.

In the distance, the camp was aglow with flickering fires and loud with voices. As the night deepened into drunken flushes, people began to sing and dance, and the music swelled. Which made this the perfect opportunity to sneak away.

I kicked the stallion into motion and adjusted the cloak over my head.

Yes, sneaking out before the hunt officially began counted as cheating, however the emperor never said we had to kill the tigerduringthe hunt.

To hell with principles; I couldn’t afford to lose.

Over the past few months I’d raided the libraries for every pieceof information I could find on these legendary tigers. One thing stood out: they were nocturnal animals that hunted exclusively at night. So my best chance of encountering one was under the grace of moonlight—also the most dangerous time to venture into the mountains.

As a child, I had begged Siwang to let me learn combat and archery with him not because I was interested, but because these were unladylike skills. And the more interest I feigned, the angrier it made the nannies and the high-ranked palace ladies who spent hours and hours teaching me etiquette and archaic rules.

I wanted their rage, and I wanted to fail every test they put me up to. I’d thought if I proved myself an unworthy empress, they would let me go home.

I never got to go home, though I hoped those lessons would pay off tonight.

As my stallion ascended the mountains, I tried to focus and prayed for Fate to grant me a single glimpse of the future, for I could use every advantage I could get. It did not work.

These visions were not mine to control. They were gifts from the gods, and mortals could not force the will of the gods.

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