The silence in the throne room after Di Jun left was a heavy, suffocating blanket. I was alone with Xue, the Flame Viper General, who looked at me with a mixture of pity and professional assessment, and Shi, the four-armed guard, who looked at me like I was a goddess who had just descended from the heavens.
I sat on the obsidian throne, the cold stone seeping through my robes. The phoenix hairpin felt heavy in my hair, a strange, warm thrum of power against my scalp. It was a lie, a beautiful, deadly lie, but it was the only thing I had.
I couldn't just sit here. I couldn't just wait for Di Jun to return or for Lianhua's next move. I was a queen, supposedly. Queens didn't just sit on thrones and look pretty. They did things.
"Xue," I said, my voice a little too loud, a little too sharp. I was overcompensating, and I knew it, but it was all I had. "I want Gu's network."
Xue's eyebrows shot up. "My lady? Gu's network is… extensive. And secretive. It was his life's work. I do not even know the full extent of it."
"Then find out," I commanded, trying to channel the regal authority Di Jun had so casually handed me. "He is gone. His network is now mine. I want his spymasters. I want his contacts, his informants, his secret passages, his hidden ledgers. I want it all."
Xue stared at me, her expression a mixture of shock and a dawning, grudging respect. "My lady, that is… a monumental task. It will take time."
"We don't have time," I said, my mind racing. The healer in me was taking over. A doctor doesn't just treat symptoms; they find the source of the illness. The source of our problems wasn't just the army at the gates. It was the disloyalty, the whispers, the rot from within.
"I don't want to know what our enemies are doing," I said, my voice dropping to a low, serious tone. "Ying's army is an obvious threat. I want to know what our allies are doing. I want a report on every major demon lord in this city. I want to know their loyalties, their finances, their secret communication channels, and most importantly, I want to know who has been whispering against the throne. Find the rats, Xue. Before they chew through the foundation."
Xue's jaw literally dropped. She looked at me, not as a mortal woman, but as a strategist, a ruler. She slowly, deliberately, dropped to one knee.
"As you command, my Queen," she said, her voice filled with a new, unwavering loyalty.
"Good," I said, my heart pounding. "Shi."
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Shi boomed, snapping to attention.
"You are my personal guard," I said. "Your first duty is to find me a loyal scribe. Someone who can read these ancient demonic texts and who is not plotting to kill me. And then bring me a map of the city. A detailed one."
"Yes, Your Majesty!" he said, and then he paused, his four arms fidgeting. "My lady… if I may… that was… brilliant."
A small, genuine smile touched my lips. "Thank you, Shi."
They both left, and I was alone again. But this time, the room didn't feel so empty. It felt… full of potential. I was a queen. And I had just given my first order.
An hour later, Xue returned. Her face was grim.
"My Queen," she said, her voice low. "We have a problem. And an opportunity."
"Spit it out," I said.
"The first report came in," she said, handing me a small, black slate. "It is from one of Gu's most trusted informants, a low-level imp who works in the message scrying pool. He intercepted a message."
I took the slate. On it was a single name, scrawled in a messy, demonic script: Krag.
"Krag?" I repeated, my blood running cold. "The Bone-Crusher? The one who challenged me?"
"The very same," Xue said, a grim satisfaction in her voice. "The report says he has been sending secret messages to an unknown celestial party. He has been reporting our movements, our strength, and… you. He is the rat."
My hands were shaking again, but this time it was with anger. I had looked that monster in the eye and he had knelt, but all the while he was plotting behind my back.
I wanted to call him back here and have Xue execute him. I wanted to make an example of him. But that's what a weak ruler would do. That's what a tyrant would do. I was a healer. And I had a better idea.
"Xue," I said, my voice dangerously calm. "Find me Lord Gu's private medical logs. I want to see the records for the Seventh Legion."
Xue's eyes widened in confusion. "Their… medical logs? My lady, why?"
"Just do it," I commanded.
Another hour passed. Shi returned with a shy, bookish-looking demon who was so terrified of me he could barely speak. He was my new scribe. He brought me a massive, detailed map of the city and the surrounding territories. Xue returned with a heavy, leather-bound book.
"It is Gu's personal journal," she said. "He kept detailed records on everyone."
I flipped through the pages, my eyes scanning the dense, demonic script. And then I found it. A section on the Seventh Legion, Krag's "Bone-Crushers." And there it was. A weakness.
The Seventh Legion was made up of a specific type of earth demon. Over time, their connection to the stone of the Underworld caused a magical ailment—a slow, painful petrification of their internal organs. It was a secret, a source of shame, and a weakness that Krag hid from everyone, relying on his brute strength to maintain control.
A slow, dangerous smile spread across my face. I had the leverage. I had the cure.
"Send for Lord Krag," I said to Xue. "Tell him the Queen requires his presence. Immediately."
When Krag entered the throne room, he was arrogant and defiant, but I could see the fear in his eyes. He thought I had found out. He thought he was here to be executed.
"Krag, Bone-Crusher of the Seventh Legion," I said, my voice echoing in the vast room. "I have a gift for you."
He stared at me, completely bewildered. "A… gift, my Queen?"
"I have been reviewing the records of our most valuable soldiers," I said, my voice full of a false, benevolent concern. "I am aware of the… affliction… that plagues your legion. A slow petrification of the organs. A painful, undignified way for such mighty warriors to end their days."
Krag's face went pale. His secret was out.
"I am a healer," I continued, rising from the throne. "It is my duty, and my pleasure, to care for my loyal subjects. I have devised a treatment. A complex herbal regimen that will halt the petrification and, in time, reverse it. I am giving it to you. For your men. A gift from your Queen."
Krag was stunned speechless. He had come to the throne room expecting to be confronted, to be accused, to be executed. Instead, I was offering him a cure. A miracle.
He looked at me, his expression a chaotic storm of confusion, suspicion, and a desperate, dawning hope.
"Why?" he finally managed to croak.
"Because a strong general needs strong soldiers," I said, my voice soft but firm. "And a strong queen needs loyal generals. This is not an order, Lord Krag. It is an offer. Accept my cure, and swear your undying loyalty to me, not just to the throne. Or refuse it, and take your chances with your… ailment."
It was the most ruthless, manipulative thing I had ever done. I was using his men's lives as a bargaining chip.
Krag looked at the floor, his massive shoulders slumping. He was trapped. He knew it. I knew it.
He slowly, deliberately, dropped to one knee, his head bowed in submission. "I… Krag, Bone-Crusher of the Seventh Legion… swear my life, my honor, and my legion to you, my Queen. We are yours to command."
I had done it. I had turned my most dangerous enemy into my most loyal weapon. I had played his game and won.
But as I looked down at his bowed head, a cold, chilling thought crept into my mind. Lianhua had wanted me to make a move. She had wanted me to play the game. And I had just made a very, very big move.
I had just shown her exactly what I was capable of. And I had a horrible feeling that I had just walked right into her next trap.