"Your facilitator will be right in here,” the Gem Court functionary told Joshi and Hiroko as she showed them into a private audience chamber.

  Like almost everyone here in the Imperial Palace grounds, the functionary was female. She wore robes indicating her role as a mere palace servant rather than a member of the Court. Hiroko thanked her, and the two found themselves alone together in a luxuriously-appointed room with wide windows that looked down onto a secluded pond. Gardeners were tending some trees at the edge of the pond. Golden window hangings framed the openings, with a plush purple rug underfoot and teak furniture filling, but not crowding, the space. The walls were hung with purple and golden tapestries.

  Hiroko leaned her forehead against the window. “My grandmother used to be one of the Pearls in charge of the Imperial grounds," she said. "She's become too frail of late and has an indoor role now.”

  “Will I be permitted to meet her?"

  "I hope so." Hiroko smoothed her indigo robes, though they looked fine to Joshi, and turned back with a little smile on her face. "Anyway, I'm so glad to see you again. How are things with the sect?"

  "Going well," he told her. "Chang-li is working harder than any three men, getting our disciples properly registered."

  She nodded. "And you?"

  "I'm well,” he said. "Brother Stone and I have been doing unarmed combat training with some of the more enthusiastic disciples. They need to learn how to control their bodies now that they have begun to use lux." He had met far too many cultivators who relied on the power of lux and neglected their physical conditioning. That would not be the case with any of his sectmates. Besides, it gave him a chance to spar with Brother Stone and work off some of his own frustrations.

  “And Min, has she —” Hiroko broke off as the door opened, and yet another Bride of the Emperor entered.

  The first thing Joshi noticed was this woman wore red robes, as opposed to the black of the Dowager Pearls who had left the confines of the garden, or the white of those who would spend the rest of their lives behind its walls.

  The second was recognition. "Lady Li Jiya," he said, and bowed to her. "It's good to see you again."

  The woman returned his smile. He had last seen Li Jiya some months ago on the occasion of her elevation to a member of the Emperor's harem. Hiroko was staring at her with some confusion.

  "Forgive me, Princess," Li Jiya said. "When I heard who was in need of an facilitator, I requested to handle your case myself. It'll be my first, and I'm being entirely supervised by a senior Dowager."

  "It's fine," Hiroko said. She looked between Joshi and Li Jiya, then back. "That is, I haven't had the pleasure of as much time in your company, but my future sect mates spoke well of you."

  "How are you finding the Imperial grounds?" Joshi asked, more out of politeness than anything else.

  A spark kindled behind Li Jiya's eyes. "Everything I could have hoped for," she said. "I have to admit, successfully managing a wedding of this magnitude so early in my tenure as a Bride will make me look good to my superiors. So you had better believe I am willing to do whatever it takes."

  She had a stack of four books in her hand, sheaves of paper bound between two leather-backed covers and strung together at their spine. She dropped the tomes onto the table at the center of the room and gestured. "Won't you take a seat? This is, I'm afraid, going to take some time. We'd better dive right into it."

  "What exactly is the purpose of this meeting?" Joshi asked. "I was issued a Gem Court summons to appear. Nothing more."

  "Yes, that," Li Jiya nodded. "To keep your wedding on schedule, since you have several unusual matters to clear up. I have taken the liberty of scheduling several ceremonies and examinations together. In the next three days you will—“

  "Three days?" Joshi swore. He placed his hands on the table. "My sect has —“

  “Absolutely nothing more pressing than you marrying an Indigo Princess," Li Jiya said smoothly, but her eyes warned him that he had better listen.

  He cycled Purification of Mind and Soul as Hiroko set a hand on his arm. "Very well," Joshi said.

  "Good. Then let's begin." Li Jiya opened the first of the four tomes.

  "A lot of this is standard boilerplate. You'll find here an abridged summary of the marriage contracts. The contracts themselves still have to be fully written out. It’s required that a marriage contract is made specifically for that couple using design elements that will represent their union. So that’s still being done, but the basic overviews of these are the same. These top two pages discuss Hiroko's place in your new sect. She will have precedence over any other spouse who does not equal her in rank, regardless of said spouse’s seniority in the sect or the rank of cultivation reached by the spouse's partner."

  "Min won't like that," Joshi said.

  "Min and I get along just fine," Hiroko replied. "And she’s far too good a politician to let such a thing worry her. The advantage to our sect of having an Indigo Princess at its head will be apparent."

  If Joshi hadn’t known her so well he might have missed the traces of uncertainty in her voice. She was more worried about Min’s reaction than she admitted.

  "I agree," Li Jiya said. "If Min was a green or blue ranked noble, then perhaps you would get some pushback. But she understands that being the senior spouse of Morning Mist, with a mere red ranking, will decrease your sect's standing in the eyes of others."

  "Why should anything except the quality of our cultivation matter to anyone?" Joshi asked.

  "Because it does." Jiya met his glare with a small smile of her own. "And I have read enough about your own people to know that you understand that perfectly, even if you are trying to come off like a brooding barbarian warrior. You forget, Joshi, I know you better than that. By the way, how’s Magen?"

  “Magen is well," Joshi said.

  Joshi had left Magen behind at the Morning Mist Sect headquarters. After the last time they had visited, he'd decided that having a lux spirit accompany him would only invite further scrutiny of himself. Besides, there was no reason for both of them to be stuck behind walls all day. The lux creature was currently drifting above the training grounds at the center of the Morning Mist compound.

  "Glad to hear," Li Jiya said, turning back to her documents. "The next page here, you will see we actually did have to cross out the standard wording and add a little bit. It has been some time since we've had a foreign royal marrying into the Imperial family."

  "Did you include the fact that both his father and his brother have served as war leader and king of their people?" Hiroko asked.

  Li Jiya nodded. "Yes. You did a good job negotiating these terms, Hiroko.”

  “More status to dazzle the eyes of our rivals?” Joshi asked, raising an eyebrow

  "This diplomatic aspect of it qualifies us for a full Imperial wedding with an appearance and blessing from the Emperor himself," Hiroko explained.

  Joshi bit back his first response, which was to say he would not be attending any wedding where the Emperor might make an appearance, and especially not his own. He had already told Hiroko he would do whatever it took to get through this, and even he could understand that this wedding was about a lot more than just him and Hiroko.

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  This jostling for position and ranking wasn't entirely foreign to him. It took different forms among the Darwur, and fists would settle matters a lot sooner than in the Empire. But he'd witnessed enough to know that sometimes the greatest weapon was made of paper, not steel. "I'll want to take a copy of all of this back to my sect," he said. Chang-li and Min would understand the language of such a contract better than he would. He didn't even recognize half the characters being used here.

  Li Jiya tapped the bottom volume. "This is yours. It has copies of everything in this first binder. Now, the marriage dissolution clauses— "

  "We will not be dissolving our marriage," Hiroko said before Joshi could object. "I told Dowager Nyarada that I wanted that excluded."

  "It won’t be a valid contract if we exclude them. But I think you’ll find it acceptable,” Li Jiya said. "Your marriage can only be dissolved on petition from one of the two of you, not by fiat from the Gem Court. That’s in deference to both of your ranks. For a dissolution petition to succeed, you must have valid grounds. That would include an offer of marriage for Joshi from a noble of higher rank than Hiroko."

  Joshi let out a low growl, and Hiroko hissed.

  “Exactly,” Li Jiya said, with a small smile. “There’s also accusation of misuse of cultivation from Hiroko. That is, if she is aware of Joshi practicing forbidden techniques or attempting to do something he's not permitted. At his rank, that would just be cracking Lumos without a license, I think, though there are ancient techniques listed in the Black Books that would get him in trouble. If Hiroko wishes to be able to give testimony to the Emperor about such, then she can petition for a divorce. Other than that," Li Jiya shrugged, "your exalted ranks make almost anything else not grounds for divorce, including infidelity or lack of issue from the marriage. The Emperor and the Gem Court expect you to sort out such small matters yourselves."

  "Good," Hiroko said.

  Joshi unclenched his jaw with an effort. "Won’t come up. Go on."

  Li Jiya spent the next two hours explaining clauses in the contract. Joshi allowed himself to get distracted and watched through Magen’s eyes. Some of the more advanced disciples—Shou, Cui, and Yang—were leading the other handful of Morning Mist members nearly at the Peak of Spiritual Refinement. Brother Stone stood off to one side, working on his own cycling.

  Joshi recalled himself back to the room as Li Jiya went on about contracts and ceremonies. Joshi's attention wavered. He watched through Magen's eyes. The senior disciples had finished their own exercises and brought in a large group of juniors. Joshi watched as they practiced some of the hand-to-hand sparring he and Brother Stone had passed along—a couple of the younger men were starting to look downright good. He'd have to mark them down for extra tutoring later. Magen sensed a slight disturbance and began drifting over.

  "Joshi," Li Jiya said, with an edge in her voice.

  He called himself back to the moment. "Yes?"

  "I asked if you had any input here?"

  He floundered. "On what, exactly?"

  Li Jiya sighed. He saw a moment of disappointment in Hiroko's eyes. "The fact that the wedding will be graced by the Emperor requires that we host it either here on palace grounds or take extra steps in order to prepare a setting of enough grandeur."

  "Whatever's simplest," he began before stopping himself. That was not the right answer. “No, wait. I think we want the entire sect to witness,” he said, and Hiroko nodded. "Is it possible to get day passes for our people?"

  Li Jiya shook her head. "No. That won't be permitted."

  "Then we will host the wedding on Morning Mist grounds."

  “That is permitted," Li Jiya said briskly. “But it comes with additional obligations. There will be a lot for your sect to coordinate.”

  “We’ll ask Min to help,” Joshi said.

  "Good thinking," Li Jiya said. She looked down and flipped through her binder until she found whatever she was looking for. "Yes. If Morning Mist is prepared to host… that would require us to make this an official Cultivation Fete, open to high-ranking cultivators from other sects. You’d need to prepare demonstrations of your sect’s cultivation prowess, gifts for high ranking guests, a proper location to host the requisite events…" Li Jiya tapped the book with her fingers. "That is acceptable. I will include a detailed agenda and budget when you leave here. It’ll be hard to complete within three days, considering everything else I have to do, but I’ll manage," she promised. She looked happy.

  "This will enhance your own status, won’t it?" Hiroko asked.

  Li Jiya smiled. "Yes. I would not have been assigned as your facilitator if the dowager in charge had expected that the Morning Mist would be able to host a public wedding fete. Now that I am assigned, though, I can hold on to this job." She made a grasping motion. "All right, let's discuss the agenda for the rest of the day. I will be leaving you shortly. There’s a banquet luncheon for the two of you, and then after lunch we’ll need to complete the bloodlines recording and have you both fitted for robes. I’ll give you updated schedules in the morning. You’re not the only couple going through this right now. There’s several other couples we’ll need to work around. I do know the last evening, there's a reception for you and several other couples whose weddings are on the schedule for the next month. That’s when you’ll have your star placed.”

  “What’s that mean?” Joshi asked, as Hiroko gasped.

  Li Jiya winked. “Wait and see.” She left them.

  The luncheon was not, in fact, private. Joshi and Hiroko were shown to a quiet dining room with a long table, seated at either end of it, then constantly interrupted by a parade of servants bearing a confusing array of tiny, elaborate dishes.

  A plate was set in front of Joshi containing half of a roast bird the size of a baby’s fist. The meat was delicious, falling off the bone with tenderness and infused with a grape and herb flavor combination he’d never tasted before, but made only two mouthfuls of food.

  Then he was presented a tiny saucer with seven berries in it, each from a different plant, and each in a different color. At first, they thought they were lux fruits of some sort, but after eating the red and yellow and experiencing no benefits, they decided they were just colored fruit.

  It went on for some time. Joshi would have liked a chance to actually speak with Hiroko, but with servants constantly coming in, setting food down, standing there as Joshi and Hiroko ate the food, then taking the dishes away to be replaced with the tiniest cups of tea or wine or pure water available, he couldn’t.

  At last, between mouthfuls of a tiny savory pancake, he said, "Is this how the Emperor’s family always eats?"

  Hiroko giggled. "We’re being treated to an Emperor’s lunch," she said. "It's an honor to recognize our union. I’ve been allowed this twice before. We are being fed the exact same food as the Emperor himself."

  That gave Joshi a bit of a jolt. He imagined the Emperor in a room like this, not far off, with a parade of servants entering to serve his lunch. He couldn’t imagine being subjected to this sort of ceremony every single day.

  He went back to eating and enjoying the food, but his mind drifted back, back to merge with Magen’s vision once more.

  Magen was hovering just over the Morning Mist compound wall, apparently attracted by something. Joshi noted a flash of movement over to the left and urged the lux creature to investigate. Magen bobbed along about ten feet off the ground and turned the corner of the compound.

  Morning Mist, on its north side, bordered some disused warehouses. An alley ran between the Morning Mist compound wall and the wall surrounding the warehouse district.

  In the alley were a trio of cultivators, not from Morning Mist, but from a sect whose robes Joshi didn’t recognize. Their pattern was brash yellow against orange, an eyewatering combination. The three had a pot of red and another of blue paint and brushes and were smearing slogans on the wall. Joshi started.

  "What’s wrong?" Hiroko asked.

  He cleared his throat. "Nothing."

  He could summon Min, but was unsure whether she was the right person to deal with cultivators of unknown strength level. Chang-li would no doubt be buried in tasks. Brother Stone might do the job, but…

  It was too late. The perpetrators stepped back to admire their work, then dashed the rest of their cans of paint against the wall and raced off.

  "Joshi, what's wrong?" Hiroko asked. She had risen from her low chair.

  Joshi realized the meal must be over and stood up, trying to remember what came next.

  "You seem distracted," Hiroko said.

  Distracted didn’t seem strong enough a term. With his whole being, he wished he was back at the sect now to pursue the culprits who had defaced Morning Mist. A little paint on the walls wasn’t serious, but it suggested some other sect had a grudge against his own. He had left them, not realizing he’d be gone for three whole days. If it escalated worse...

  Hiroko came and touched him on the shoulder. "Can I help?"

  He took a deep breath, tempted for a moment to tell her he was done here, had to return to Morning Mist, but restrained himself. This was important, not just to him and Hiroko, but to the sect itself. He needed to trust that Chang-li and Min would have it covered, that they could ask the grandmaster or other senior disciples for aid.

  "No problem," he said, shaking his head. "I was just a little overwhelmed at all of this."

  She nodded gravely. "It can be very difficult for those not raised in this lifestyle. I found life outside the walls to be freeing, and I'm looking forward to joining Morning Mist soon."

  He squeezed her hand. "Not soon enough," he said fervently. “What is up first this afternoon? Flower arranging?”

  "Bloodline checking, then robe fitting," she corrected. "Oh, and there's a ceremonial bathing in between. They'll be collecting samples of your hair and blood for the birthsign casting. Li Jiya and I forgot to warn you earlier, so I should do that now."

  This afternoon was sounding worse and worse with every minute. Joshi told Magen to go find Min and tell her what was going on, then focused on the reality of his own surroundings. He smiled down at Hiroko, who looked up with those beautiful eyes of hers.

  He could do this. It was only another month. He’d been a slave many times longer than that, worn a collar that chafed his skin and cut him off from all lux, while being beaten, worked night and day, treated like an animal.

  Compared to that, how could he complain about being served dishes literally fit for an Emperor, as a princess was presented, preparing to become his bride?

  All the same, he would rather have been transported into that alley to solve a problem he knew how to handle.