It had been two days at the Long Kingdom’s makeshift camp before the Crown Prince summoned Xinyue. The camp itself was nothing special, with the canvas tents and soldiers practicing their skills. The blue flags with golden dragon emblems were on almost every tent, and servants in blue bustled about. It felt almost like any other military camp that Xinyue had been to before, except this one was brimming with hostility from the Long Kingdom soldiers. The cold of the north swept over Xinyue’s skin, causing goosebumps and her hair to rise. It was the first time Xinyue had been this far north, and she wasn’t used to the cold.

  “General, summoning you to the sparring area doesn’t seem to bode well, does it?” Haoran was frequently vocal about his dislike for the Crown Prince. While not ever disrespectful, his comments had a barely veiled dislike that edged on hatred. The first night they had entered the camp, Xinyue and the Crown Prince had argued about tents and where Xinyue would stay. She insisted on staying close to her troops, but he insisted that her tent be near his command tent. Xinyue had won the argument, but the Crown Prince had refused to see her for the past two days.

  “Maybe he just wants to train together?” Zixin, ever the contrarian, piped up from next to Haoran.

  “And how likely is that, Zixin?”

  “Unlikely. But a possibility.” Zixin shrugged, a grin spread over his face.

  “If it’s so unlikely, why did you say it?” Haoran’s brow scrunched together, and he practically sneered at Zixin.

  “Because I like to see you all flustered and riled up,” Zixin smirked as Haoran huffed, his cheeks a bright red that reached the tips of his ears. He was like a cat, bristling and on edge.

  Xinyue sighed and decided to put a stop to the two soldiers’ continued bickering. “He has summoned me in all likelihood to fight.” It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for Xinyue, she was curious about the Crown Prince and who would win between them.

  “But don’t you think it’s disrespectful to challenge a general from another kingdom? Especially after leaving them to wait for two days without summoning them.” Haoran frowned a bit. “It isn’t normal, is it?”

  “I don’t know, he doesn’t seem all that normal.” Xinyue thought back to the skirmish with the bandits and the Crown Prince’s behavior. He seemed playful and not that serious about anything, but at the same time, there was a certain sharpness to his eyes. She thought of his fighting style, the quick and deadly way he swung his spear. His laughter and jokes after the battle. Everything about him seemed to be in severe contrast.

  Haoran, Zixin, and Xinyue entered the clearing of the sparring area: a large circular, make-shift arena with tents lined up around it. Dead in the center, the Crown Prince had already started sparring with one of his subordinates. His gold armor gleamed in the afternoon sun as he fought.

  The long, wooden spear held by the Crown Prince spun, deadly, and it smashed down onto the soldier, who just in the nick of time brought up his spear to defend himself.

  “You need to work harder, Hongyi.” The Crown Prince backed off from his opponent and twisted his spear in his right hand, playing with it.

  “I’ll keep that in mind, General.” The subordinate saluted, both hands gripping the spear as he bowed, a grimace on his dirt-streaked face. While the Crown Prince wore full armor, this soldier only wore body armor, but no helmet. His whole face could be seen by Xinyue, while the Crown Prince’s eyes through his visor were the only thing to be seen while he wore his helmet.

  As quickly as the grimace appeared on the soldier’s face, it dropped and faded into a bright smile, the canines in his mouth just a tad bit longer than the rest of his teeth. General Xinyue recognized him as the one who was found with Haoran in their previous battle two years ago. It was difficult to forget such a unique smile. “Ah, General, Look! General Xinyue has arrived.”

  “We’ll discuss your technique later, Hongyi.” The Crown Prince turned from the soldier to face the General. Hongyi’s face fell as he realized he hadn’t gotten out of the spear training talk that he thought he had avoided with the General’s appearance.

  “General Xinyue.” The Crown Prince came toward the small party from the Kingdom of Wu, spear still swinging in his hand. “I am glad you are here.”

  “Your Highness.” Xinyue bowed and saluted, Haoran and Zixin matching her.

  “You know, General, in this camp I am not the Crown Prince, but rather a general.” The Crown Prince’s eyes were amused from where they shone through his helmet. “It would be better if you addressed me as such.”

  “I am unsure if that would be within protocol, Your Highness.” Xinyue gave a small bow of her head, trying to knock away his suggestion of using a less-than-formal title.

  “Hm. Do you think so?” The Crown Prince turned to his subordinate. “Hongyi, what do you think?”

  “I don’t think there was a law about it, General.” Hongyi smiled again, and Xinyue had a sudden violent urge to smack the man on the back of his head. “By the way, my name is Hongyi, Second-in-Command to General Yichen and the Crown Prince of the Long Kingdom.” Not a hair out of place, the man bowed and greeted Xinyue. Even with the dirt smeared on his face, there was something regal about the man. His hair was tied properly, and his clothing was made out of finer material than most soldiers.

  “Greetings, I am General Xinyue of the Wu Kingdom. This is my Second-in-Command, Haoran, and my Third-in-Command, Zixin.” Both the men behind Xinyue saluted in greeting as their name was introduced.

  “Ah, greetings to you all.” Hongyi saluted.

  The Crown Prince cleared his throat. “Back to what we were saying, there is nothing against you calling me by the title of General.”

  “I apologize, Your Highness.” Xinyue coated her words in insincere politeness. “But I must remain dignified for the Wu Kingdom as their representative.”

  “Yes, but, you see, it sounds as if every time you use my title you’re insulting me.” The Crown Prince raised his eyebrows, the visor not hiding the sharp look in his eyes.

  “Not at all, I am treating you with respect, Your Highness.”

  “I see.” The wooden spear swung and glided in his hands. With one broad motion, the tip of the spear was at Xinyue’s throat.

  Haoran and Zixin both put their hands on the hilts of their swords, ready for action. Hongyi simply took a step back, the canines in his smile flashing.

  Xinyue raised her hand to stop Haoran and Zixin from acting or drawing their swords.

  “I guess our greetings are complete?”

  “I was wondering if the esteemed General of Wu would honor me with a sparring match.” It was phrased as a question, but it really wasn’t one. There was no option for Xinyue to back out of sparring the Crown Prince.

  “Do I have much of a choice, Your Highness?”

  “There is always a choice.” The Crown Prince may say so, but Xinyue knew better. This wasn’t a choice, there was hardly ever a choice when dealing with people in power.

  “Very well.” Xinyue sighed and could feel her heart beating erratically. She willed it to calm down, to settle so she could fight with the man in front of her. “I’m guessing you would like to compete with the long spear, Your Highness?” While Xinyue was no stranger to the spear, she was also not an expert in wielding it.

  “Hm. It’s the weapon that I’ve been practicing with the most these days.” The spear swung back away from her throat and spun in his hands. “It would be an honor if you could amuse me.”

  Hongyi stepped forward, his spear in his hands from the Crown Prince’s sparring match earlier. “General, if you’d like, you can use my spear.”

  “Thank you, Second-in-Command Hongyi.” Xinyue took the spear from Hongyi and spun it in her hands. The weight distribution was even and felt good, it would serve its purpose well.

  Hongyi grimaced as he heard his title from her lips. The Crown Prince was right, the title did sound like an insult from the General. It dripped with cold politeness and insincerity, a well-mannered curse.

  “I expect the spar to be satisfactory.” The Crown Prince’s eyes, their unnervingly light shade of blue with streaks of green, watched her like a predator with its prey.

  Hongyi walked away from the two generals, far to the right. He stayed to watch the match, but was wary of getting in the way. Haoran and Zixin followed his lead but moved to the left of the generals. They stood opposite Hongyi, their arms crossed over their chests.

  “I will do my best to reach your expectations, Your Highness.” With those words, the Crown Prince shot forward, his spear swinging down to strike over the top of Xinyue’s head.

  She raised the spear with both hands to block it, and twisted the shaft of the spear to the side so the Crown Prince’s spear would slide off her own.

  “Not bad, General.”

  “I could say the same for you, Your Highness.”

  Xinyue struck out with her spear, trying to catch him off guard with a shot to the abdomen.

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  The Crown Prince shifted at the last second, moving out of the way. His spear swung toward her shoulder.

  Xinyue ducked and pulled the spear back, only to swing it at his legs a second later.

  They continued the deadly dance, unleashing no-holds-barred blows and strikes. Xinyue had to admit that the Crown Prince’s form was excellent, far superior to her own. Even at the beginning of the spar, she knew she was far outmatched; however, she needed to gain his respect for the mission ahead. Without this match, she was certain he would try to lead all the battles and skirmishes against the bandits; she wouldn’t have any input. This spear was a demonstration of her abilities and her skills as a general.

  Huffing and gasping for air, Xinyue barely managed to block another blow from the Crown Prince, the spear in her hand letting out a small cracking sound.

  Twisting to the side, Xinyue thrust with her spear at the Crown Prince’s side.

  “You’re far more competent than I expected.” There was a begrudging look of respect in the Crown Prince’s eyes as he dodged and stepped into Xinyue.

  He shoved her with the shaft of the spear, so she took a few steps back, before attacking again. His spear swung overhead to come down onto Xinyue’s head from above.

  “I apologize for not meeting your expectations, Your Highness.” Xinyue blocked again with two hands on the spear, her arms thrust above her.

  With a crack, the spear broke in two. Xinyue glanced to the side so the splinters wouldn’t fall into her eyes. She braced herself for the impact of the spear that would come down onto her head, only for nothing to happen.

  Opening her eyes again, Xinyue looked up at the spear that was a hand’s width from colliding with her head. In both of her hands were two halves of the spear.

  “I would say I won this round.” His Highness pulled his spear back and twirled it so the bottom of the shaft touched the ground lightly.

  “I accept defeat, Your Highness.” Xinyue bowed slightly. The outcome had never been a question in her mind, not since the first time she saw him wield the spear.

  Two servants rushed forward from where they had been watching the spar by the tent. Their long blue robes rustling as they took the spears from both Xinyue’s and His Highness’ hands.

  Xinyue didn’t notice before while sparring, but the two generals had gathered quite a crowd to watch their spectacle. The soldiers from both the Wu Kingdom and the Long Kingdom stood by the tents, and Xinyue could see that some money was being exchanged between the soldiers.

  The Crown Prince took off his helmet and handed it to one of the servants, his lips pursed. It was the first time Xinyue had seen the man without something covering his face.

  A fox. If Xinyue were to describe the Crown Prince in one word, it would be his likeness to the animal. He looked like a painting that had come to life. His deep black hair, full lips, and slightly pointed chin with a strong jawline would make him handsome, if not for his icy-pale blue eyes. Everything about him was fox-like except his eyes, the eyes of a snake, of a dragon. He was far too handsome for Xinyue’s liking, it almost made him unapproachable.

  Xinyue smiled a bit when she heard Haoran huff a bit from where he stood. Haoran had another reason to hate the Crown Prince of Long: he was far too handsome to be considered a good person.

  The Crown Prince raised one thick eyebrow. “So, what do you think, General?”

  “You’re skills were exemplary. I have a lot to learn from His Highness.” Xinyue saluted again. She meant what she said, there was a lot to be learned from his spear work.

  The Crown Prince blinked twice at her. “I meant about my dashing good looks.”

  “Oh. Considering what I heard from others, their descriptions fit well, Your Highness.” Xinyue nodded her head.

  The Crown Prince sighed, exasperated. He was being let down for the first time in his life. General Xinyue never did anything the Crown Prince expected of her, which made her vastly frustrating and vastly entertaining. “General, in this case, you’re supposed to flatter me. You know, tell me that I’m blessed by the gods or something of that nature.”

  “Were you blessed by the gods, Your Highness?”

  “Not that I’m aware of.” The Crown Prince smiled, and a dimple popped up on his right cheek. His face no longer looked like a painting, beautiful and untouchable. “But you never know.”

  “Let me know when you know, Your Highness,” Xinyue said with a serious tone.

  The Crown Prince’s laughter rang throughout the sparring ring. “Now, General, I suppose we should discuss the next coming action against the bandits.”

  “Yes, we should, Your Highness.” This was the moment Xinyue had most looked forward to. When they would finally discuss the bandits.

  “After cleaning up, meet me in my tent with your subordinates.” The Crown Prince nodded to Haoran and Zixin. “We will discuss the next plan of action.”

  “Yes, Your Highness.” Xinyue saluted and internally sighed in relief. She felt tension in her shoulders, that she didn’t know was there, release.

  Xinyue walked back to the designated area for the Wu Kingdom. Along the way, they passed the soldiers and servants who had viewed her and the Crown Prince’s sparring match. They looked at her with less hostility and a bit more respect in their guarded eyes.

  By the time they made it back to her tent, Haoran’s level of patience had been tested to its fullest, and he couldn’t help but to remark on what had just happened.

  “General, why are they all staring at you? Should we come up with a plan before going to the Crown Prince’s tent?” Haoran babbled on, his eyes bright. “Also, did you see the way the Crown Prince commanded you, as if you were under him in rank?”

  “I am under him in rank. He is the Crown Prince of the Long Kingdom.” Xinyue took off her armor piece by piece. Once the heavy metal was removed, the layers of clothing that stuck to Xinyue’s skin because of sweat were revealed. Underneath the thin clothes, Xinyue could feel bruises and aches that were forming. “They were staring at me because they were curious. We should formulate a plan together, we are here to work with the Long Kingdom, not against them.”

  One by one, Xinyue addressed Haoran.

  “I think that the sparring match was successful in showing your skill set beyond the sword.” Zixin stood with his back against one of the wooden poles that were dug deep into the earth that held up the tent. “Not only that, but it seems like the Crown Prince is moving to accept your input.”

  “Why wouldn’t he accept it?” Haoran’s voice was harsh. “She is known as the top general of Wu, not only that, but her reputation matches his.”

  “But I’m not the Grand Guardian. Nor am I given favor by the Royal Court.” Xinyue laid out the concerns in the open. The unspoken truth that had followed her successes for the past few years, the tremulous position she had in court, and her status as an illegitimate child. Her grandfather on her maternal side still held the General position at Court, even if she was successful, and considered the greatest general of Wu, she wasn’t given the power of the Court. “Not to mention my gender and our affiliation with the Wu Kingdom.”

  “That doesn’t take away from your success.” Haoran spat back. He fiddled with the hilt of his sword and the strap around his waist. “The Long Kingdom was the one that reached out to the Wu Kingdom.”

  “You and I don’t think it does, but not everyone thinks that way.” Zixin shrugged. Besides what our spies said, the Crown Prince was against asking the Wu Kingdom for help. He told the Court that he could handle the situation, but his father, the King, insisted on reaching out and maintaining diplomatic ties with the Wu Kingdom.”

  “But-“

  “It isn’t important. His reasons for distrusting me up until now and in the future are unimportant.” Xinyue cut in. “What matters is the job we have to do here and the bandits that we must address between the borders of our two kingdoms. That’s the only thing that matters.”

  “But, General-“

  “Enough, Haoran.” Xinyue raised her hand. “His reasons are his own, and his thoughts are not any of our concern. Right now, I am going to wash up and get ready to go to the Crown Prince’s tent. You will do the same.”

  Haoran’s eyes were red-rimmed with anger, but he knew better than to argue further with the General about it. He looked to Zixin, but the man just shook his head at him, warning him not to continue. Haoran puffed out his cheeks and swallowed back his words.

  The General turned from them. “You’re dismissed, we’ll meet here after we’ve rested. The Crown Prince will probably send a servant to summon us by then.”

  Xinyue waited until both Haoran and Zixin left before she clutched at her side. Lifting her shirt, she looked at the bruise that was forming and pulled at the cultivation in the pit of her stomach to send it to the bruises and scrapes. There wouldn’t be much rest for her before she went to the Crown Prince’s tent.