It came with a royal summons, sealed in gold.
"By decree of the Emperor, Shen, Shadow Fang of the Throne, will accompany the Crown Prince Li Ren on a diplomatic journey to Shenzhou Province. Duration: ten days. Purpose: investigation of recent rebel activity."
Shenzhou Province.
A land famous for quiet valleys and sudden fires.
"Rebellion doesn't start there," Shen recalled."It erupts there."
And now they were sending both imperial heirs — one known, one forgotten — into the same storm.
Li Ren arrived for departure in a chariot lined with silk and guarded by thirty elite soldiers.
Shen arrived on horseback.
Plain. Silent.
The prince glanced at him once.
"Father must truly hate me," Li Ren said with a dry smile. "Sending me with a dog that bites."
Shen bowed with a faint smirk.
"I bite only when cornered, Your Highness."
"Good," Li Ren said, stepping aboard."Because out there? Everyone wants a piece of the throne."
They left at dawn.
Two dragons on the same road — one cloaked in gold, the other in ash.
Behind them, court officials placed bets quietly:
"Will Shen protect the prince?""Or finish what history failed to do?"
By the third day, they crossed into Shenzhou lands.
The people greeted the Crown Prince with forced smiles.
But Shen noticed it immediately.
"Too clean. Too quiet. Too… watched."
And sure enough, that night — the first arrow came.
Not in the open.
Not a battle.
A warning.
Fired silently through the window of the inn they'd claimed.
Embedded in the wall beside Shen's bedroll.
A scrap of paper tied to the shaft.
"We know who you are, Ghost Prince."
Shen stared at it.
The wind in the room shifted slightly — not from the window, but from the Windlock seal in his palm.
It pulsed once.
"They know," he whispered.
Then the door opened — and Li Ren stepped in.
Saw the arrow.
Read the message.
He looked at Shen.
"Ghost Prince, huh?" he said lightly.
Shen met his gaze without flinching.
Li Ren smiled, almost kindly.
"Well… you'll protect me anyway, won't you? Brother."
Outside, in the hills beyond, a figure stood with a black banner.
A rebel leader.
In his hand: a broken medallion, half-shaped like a dragon.
He whispered into the wind:
"The heir has returned.But which one will wear the crown?"