The summons came at dawn.
We were given no weapons, only travel robes bearing both crests, the white lotus and the silver wolf, stitched side by side in uneasy harmony. A symbol of unity, the masters called it. To me, it looked like a wound forced to scar over before it healed.
Ge Ji Ming stood waiting by the northern gate. His expression unreadable, his twin sabers returned to him only hours earlier. Even sheathed, they gleamed like twin crescents in the rising light.
"You received your orders?" he asked quietly.
I nodded. "We're to escort a caravan from the Vermilion Trade Houses to the border fortress."
His brow furrowed. "Kang Ya Zhen's domain."
The air between us tightened.
Behind the illusion of probation, I could already sense the truth… this was not a mission of redemption. It was a test. Perhaps even a trap.
The caravan was waiting just beyond the gate: lacquered wagons draped in crimson silks, guards too polished to be mere merchants. Ya Zhen herself was there, of course. Her robes shimmered like liquid flame, and a red silk fan hid most of her face.
"How dutiful," she said sweetly, her gaze sliding from Ji Ming to me. "The Council's favorite experiment finally leaves its cage."
I bowed. "Lady Kang."
"Please," she said, lowering her fan, "call me 'Commander' for the duration of this mission. The court prefers formality."
Her smile didn't reach her eyes.
The journey began through the mountain passes, narrow roads carved between cliffs that exuded mist and echoes. Soldiers kept their distance from us, superstitious, whispering of the bonded pair who defied heaven.
When we stopped to rest, I examined the trade crates. They held spices and silk, but underneath, sealed by talisman paper, I felt the pulse of qi. Potent, cold, and sharp.
"These aren't trade goods," I murmured.
Ji Ming crouched beside me, peeling one charm with his blade's edge. "Weapon cores," he said softly. "Refined energy stones. Illegal outside the court armories."
Ya Zhen's voice drifted from behind us. "Curiosity is a dangerous habit, White Lotus."
I turned. She stood framed by the mist, one hand on her fan, the other resting lightly on the crate.
"These goods are not for your concern," she said. "You're here to protect, not to question."
"Then tell us what we're guarding," Ji Ming said, his tone calm but razor-sharp.
She smiled. "You're guarding me."
Her gaze lingered on him longer than necessary. Then she turned, fan snapping open like a blade. "We reach the Crimson Court in three days; try not to die before then."
That night, as the campfire burned low, Ji Ming said quietly, "She's not smuggling for herself. Those cores belong to the court."
"Then why hide them?"
"Because the court hides everything it fears."
I stared into the flames. They flared crimson, reflecting in his eyes.
And for the first time, I wondered if mercy from the Council had ever existed at all, or if this mission was simply another blade waiting to fall.