The silver bell chimed, and within minutes, Xue Lian's three commanders stood before them in the library. Kael's massive form radiated impatience, Kairo's was a study in cold readiness, and Vex'aal was a whisper of shadows in the corner. Their eyes took in the scene the Empress and her companion standing side by side before a large map of the realms, an undeniable aura of partnership between them.
"The righteous sects are coming," Xue Lian announced, her voice devoid of preamble, echoing with cold authority in the silent room. "Intelligence provided by our guest confirms they believe they are mounting a rescue mission. Their target is this palace."
Kael cracked his knuckles, a predatory grin spreading across his face. "Let them come. The Southern Pass will be their graveyard."
"No," Xue Lian stated flatly, cutting him off. "They will not set foot in our lands. We will not allow them to dictate the terms of this conflict." She tapped a location on the map, a desolate, grey valley that lay just beyond the Netherworld's border. The Ashen Vale. "Their entire strategy is predicated on reaching the Silent Palace. We will make that objective irrelevant. We will control where, when, and how this meeting takes place."
Her gaze, sharp and calculating, moved from her commanders and settled on Lan Yue. "They are coming for their saint. Therefore, their saint must go to them."
A shocked silence fell over the room.
"Your Majesty, that is madness!" Kael burst out. "Sending her out there is sending her back to them! It's a trick!"
"It is a psychological gambit, Commander," Vex'aal's whispery voice countered, a note of understanding in her tone. "They expect a prisoner. If she arrives as an envoy, their entire casus belli is thrown into question."
"She will meet them in the Ashen Vale," Xue Lian continued, her tone leaving no room for debate. "She will be our representative. She will carry our terms. You will make the necessary preparations. That is all."
She dismissed them with a wave of her hand. The commanders bowed, Kael with visible reluctance, and filed out of the room, leaving a thick, tense silence in their wake.
Once they were alone, Xue Lian turned to Lan Yue, her imperial mask softening into something more vulnerable. She took Lan Yue's hands, her grip tight.
"Yue, what I said in there… it is a strategy. But it is not a command. It is a choice." She looked down at their joined hands, then back up, her amber eyes searching Lan Yue's. "When you meet them, the choice is truly yours. If you see your old master, your friends… if you feel the pull of your past life and wish to return to it… I will not stop you. I told you I would not hold a silken leash." Her voice was steady, but her grip was a white knuckled confession of how much the words cost her. "You are free."
She had expected a quiet consideration, perhaps a sad smile or a firm reassurance. She had not expected the flash of fire in Lan Yue's eyes.
Lan Yue pulled her hands from Xue Lian's grasp, her posture going rigid. "You don't mind?" she asked, her voice dangerously quiet, sharp with a disbelief that cut deeper than any shout.
Xue Lian was taken aback. "Yue, I…"
"You don't mind?" Lan Yue repeated, taking a step back, her serene composure shattered by a wave of pure, hurt indignation. "Six months. The festival. Our conversations. The night we just shared. The vows we made to each other in the dawn… and you think I would simply go back? Do you think so little of my word? Of my heart?" Her voice trembled, not with fear, but with a raw, angry pain. "Do you think so little of us?"
The accusation struck Xue Lian with the force of a physical blow. In her attempt to offer Lan Yue the ultimate proof of her freedom, she had accidentally communicated the ultimate doubt. Her strategist's mind had offered a noble, logical choice, and in doing so, had trampled all over their fragile, sacred trust.
"No," Xue Lian said quickly, stepping forward, her own expression stricken. "No, Yue, that's not what I meant. Forgive me." She reached out, not to grab, but to plead. "I… I had to say it. To prove to you, and perhaps to my own selfish heart, that you are not bound to me by anything but your own will." Her voice cracked, the fear she'd confessed to on the balcony now laid bare. "The thought of you leaving is the only thing I truly fear. I spoke as a strategist, not as… not as your Lian."
Lan Yue's anger faltered as she saw the genuine terror in Xue Lian's eyes. The grand, audacious Empress was afraid of losing her. She understood, then. The offer hadn't been a dismissal of her feelings, but a desperate, clumsy affirmation of her freedom.
Her shoulders slumped, the anger draining away, leaving a weary sadness in its place. She stepped forward, closing the distance between them and taking Xue Lian's hands again.
"There is no choice to be made," she said softly, but with an unshakable resolve. "My old life is a ghost. You are my reality." She looked into Xue Lian's eyes, her own gaze fierce and clear. "So yes. I will meet them. Not to choose between two worlds, but to declare, in front of gods and men, which one is mine."