Night had fallen over the empire, but in the Palace of Eternal Flames, everything seemed frozen in time.
After the dance, no one had dared to speak aloud.
Not even the emperor.
The torches in the central hall burned with a strange, almost bluish flame.
Suwei was alone in the ancient pavilion of stars, where emperors had meditated for generations past.
The moonlight fell through the open roof, illuminating his serene but exhausted face.
The door opened.
There was no announcement.
There were no footsteps.
Only Jin Long, standing at the threshold, dressed in his black robe embroidered with gold.
His eyes lacked their usual coldness.
Nor did they hold warmth.
They held something else.
Memory.
Pain.
Doubt...
And a spark that even he could not name.
"I wondered," the emperor finally said, "if you knew what you were doing out there."
Suwei looked at him. Without fear.
"I didn't know. But I felt it. As if the dance had been within me since before I was born."
Silence.
