"What do you know?" the King demanded, actually curious for once under the habit of contempt. "What trick have your little spies brought you that makes you shiver at shadows?"
Li Xuejian thought of telling them.
He thought of saying the name Witch and watching it hit a wall that did not know yet what storms were.
He thought of Yuyan in the snow and the easy way she would have wrapped the court around her finger again if he had let her. He thought of the sound of his last breath in another winter, another death.
"Enough," he said again.
"Cowardice," the Queen snapped. "Shrinking from destiny. Weakness. If you do not like the sound of Baiguang marching, you need not wear the boots when the day comes."
There it was. The casual threat, tossed like a light scarf over a dark dress.
