Rei Rangwha, the Rei family’s brilliant jewel, stood a narrow ten feet away. She offered up a smile, “How are you, Grisla? I haven’t seen you since your father brought you along that one day.” That one day was about four years ago, when his father still had weight and the Rei family had some age-old ties between his grandfather and them.

Grisla threw himself into a bow. “Ah, it’s young miss Rei Rangwha, how silly of me to not notice you. Please accept my apology.”

  “Apologize… for what, again?” Rangwha said.

  Grisla blinked, “For… my disrespect?”

  “Disrespect? When?” She flashed a small smile. “Don’t blame yourself for not noticing. In a way I meant for you not to or anyone else really. Things have gotten strange around here, so I stuck ‘round to see if any… issues popped up.” The light in her eyes hardened at the finish.

  “But you should be more careful of your surroundings, Grisla. Especially if you’re ending up in places you shouldn’t be.” She winked.

  What did she mean by that?

He needed not a map back to it, it came to him quick. Two things that were: soft, round and perfectly firm. Within everyone’s sight, he turned red.

  Whether to bless, or curse the heavens for my luck, if I don’t beg for mercy now—

“Heavens! This Untalented Grisla recalls his offense!” Dropping to his knees, he truly had a shake in his chest. At a whim, she could kill him herself or have the two near him end his life. Another encounter with another day pleading for mercy. Hate would be a weak term to use for his feelings on this behavior.

Audible snorts from the two came. They would bask in the schadenfreude whether it was up to them or the lady herself. “Pathetic, you dare do foul to our lady then cry ignorance? Shamelessness has its limits.”

One took it upon himself to act, and with not even one step finished. He froze, “Miss… I didn’t mean to offend—”

  Her voice, which normally was like feather, fell down an octave, “Did my mouth move yet?”

  “N—No, Lady Rangwha.” The guard said.

  “Then why would you make a step? Did I order a step?”

  “I… just assumed—”

  “Assumed what? That I would really allow you to kill Grisla Orlith, the son of Gihren Orlith in front of me and I wouldn’t bat an eye?”

It wasn’t just the sole guard under a microscope, but the two together trembled same as they did to him previously with their aura alone. Grisla blinked in surprise, instead of a blanket outpour of power fresh out of imprisonment, it was expertly directed much in the same way as a scalpel for precision. Leaving him relatively untouched and the world beyond them as ignorant as ever.

Grisla furrowed his brows. She wasn’t that much older than he, maybe about twenty if he had it right. At that age she has command over the Lower Hall Elders and assuredly a say in the Upper District.

  Xinrei’s peer.

He gritted his teeth. He’s being saved, again.

The two guards made a weak apology to Grisla and supplicated to their young mistress. However, Rangwha paid no further attention to her idiotic guard, slinking close to Grisla’s side. “To the heart of the matter then, for what do I owe the visit?” She was close. Closer than he’d known any female other than his mother. He did feel awkward, for her genetics gifted her some inches over him, leaving Grisla at eye level with the goods.

He looked away. “I’m here… to visit Han.”

  “Little Han you said? Oh, I had no idea you two were friends.”

  “We are not friends,” He corrected. “I just had to check up on him, he didn’t show to the practice field.”

  Rangwha made a strange smile, “Really then? I had no idea you were such a worrywart. Wonder if Grisla has some left for me?” She said.

  “I’m sorry?”

  She tilted her head, “Nothing. But I don’t think it’s a good time. He’s been out sick.”

  “’Sick’ huh? I’ve heard that before, but I don’t believe it, Elder Sister.”

Rangwha raised an eyebrow. “Hmm? What could you ever be implying Grisla?"

  I remember this. Her beating-around-the-bush games she liked to play when she was bored, or probing. It’s been so long since we talked yet, so many things have stayed the same.

The scent of her perfume was almost as attractive as she. With both combined made for a deadly combination—this woman was dangerous. He stepped back. “I was there for a time. Xinrei did something, didn’t he?”

This time her frown was true. “It really isn’t anything you should be concerned about. I don’t know the details myself, but something was up between him and Xinrei. He won’t say.”

Xinrei would take it as beneath him to even take a step into the Lower Halls. But to see someone specifically? There had to be a subject that captures the son of heaven himself over to their lowly abode.

  “Maybe, if I have a talk, he’ll let slip of it to me?” His mouth moved before his thoughts could review.

And that blew the floodgates open and he didn’t even know it. Rangwha hurriedly grabbed his hand, with her head looming close. “You’ll do that for us? Really? Wait, you’re not even sure yourself if you can make his lips fly.”

He wondered how rude it’ll be to create space between them again, but as a man stuck between twin peaks ahead and guards behind, he couldn’t refuse. Instead he stood as a tomato under Rangwha’s shadow. “Can’t make a promise, but he’ll definitely have a word if I show. For better or worse.” Grisla said.

She nodded. “Grisla, I appreciate your help. Come with me then, I’ll take you there.” Just like that, he passed by the two would-be murderers of him with the stroke of luck that her heart was bigger than most he’d known. Or it was the goodwill his grandfather and father had stockpiled over the years with this family. Whichever the case, he had succeeded in getting in, the next part was figuring out to do what he said. A thing he studied on while they walked.

But his thoughts drifted where to where his eyes led. Her hips swayed and mingled with her dress, decorated with a slit so that every lift had a reveal with a tender thigh. Had his father known of where his thoughts lay, just a scolding would be inappropriate. Cultivators were praised by the mortals of their world for always having restraint, discipline, all the good virtues that kept you in poems. Here he was, falling to lust like a man with no control. He paused his goodwill for Han and scribbled up a note inside.

  Mature women, dangerous. Must build up a suitable defense lest I be taken advantage of.

Thankfully to him, his lust had fallen to the wayside as he looked around and felt as if he was more of on a tour than a guide. From what he said and thought about the outside being tacky, they took the word and ran with it. Other than the fountains and handcrafted streams within their courtyards, the rest of it was opulence for the sake of. Just to steal attention and impress. He rolled his eyes as he realized—it had worked, even on him.

He’d forgotten he was walking next to, and talking with, a genuine cultivator. Yes, one can say they’re a martial artist when they’ve reached Juva Solidification, but so can a toddler. It is said that you could ever claim the title of it when you’ve reached the peak of Solidification and beyond. The first true barrier between those who can and cannot. To anyone below her level, she’d be taken as a pretty face from a powerful clan. Which chilled him the more he thought about it—how many experts did he pass by, talk to, or may have insulted without even realizing? If Rangwha didn’t want her presence known around him it would be easy without saying. If she wanted to kill him? Well…

He would perish without even knowing from whom. In a way this gratified him, at least, nobody would stoop so low as to assassinate him without due cause. All martial artists had their pride, no matter how humble they may appear. Goes for Rangwha as well.

---

  “…One time, I threw him in the water with a flick of the wrist, he didn’t speak to me for a while after that, he even made faces to me at supper.” Rangwha giggled.

  “I’d do the same no doubt. The heartache at soiled robes.” Grisla said.

  “Your robes? No no no, it wasn’t about his clothes for him. He still had some pet bird tucked in his arm when I threw it, as a note I didn’t know, but when he hit the water the thing I swear to you thanked me when Han’s arm couldn’t keep it close. Flying up and away and he never saw it again.”

They both laughed together as they climbed the stairs up Han’s tower. When they reached the top, Rangwha stopped. Leaving Grisla to look over in confusion.

Her head was high, eyes low. Those hands of hers crossed and uncrossed in a pattern, she brought her cheeks to a kinda-sorta smile. “It’s good, seeing you again.”

A chord plucked in him. “Ehrm, yeah. Time has flown since we last talked.”

  “Four years, Grisla.” She murmured.

Not any four years. Four years ago, when things were right. Four years ago—when he had been considered a talent. Things were good back then, he smiled more. They both knew that.

After his “deficiency” had been discovered, the clan and families had distanced themselves from Grisla and his father. If one was crippled, that was a tragedy. Two? Bad omens and has-beens. Stay away and ignore.

  “How’s the four been, though?” He added. The awkwardness was getting to him.

  She rolled her eyes. “Miserable,” Rangwha said. “Training, from dusk till dawn. Reading scripture and scrolls a day’s away from rotting, learning and applying theory, I get out to stretch from time to time and spar against the Elders but they’re no fun, they take themselves much too seriously. Say I go all out and manage to beat one, their pride is hurt. To save face they prattle on an excuse or even-if-I-lost-you-still-did-something-wrong nonsense. The other idea is to get my pointers against my fellow chosen. But it’s the same problem, now multiplied. What’s a girl to do?”

Her voice lowered. “This life was something you were more suited for.”

Grisla looked elsewhere.

In the wake of his downfall, the families scrambled to find a suitable talent within their ranks to fill the void. Originally, the Orlith’s heir and Rei family’s young mistress were allies from a longstanding pact that predated the children. A measure made to counteract the aggression from other factions within the clan, like the Grittus family itself. When there’s less suitable heirs or disciples coming from the member families of the clan, the resources will be reallocated to the chosen and talents they have already. That’s a problem, if one family continually dedicates resources to one talent, in the future, when that baby bird grows up to become a hawk, they will be a commanding voice in their family and the clan, further increasing the gap between the families strength as that voice promotes and advocates for their own, obviously. A cycle that will repeat and repeat till, like vampires they’ve made their competitors into desiccated corpses.

That’s unacceptable.

When he fell there had to be a replacement—from where, and who? The Orlith and Rei family didn’t have an alliance to themselves. It was a triumvirate between the Orlith, Rei and Fang families. With the Orlith heir ruined there was no longer a reason to keep Grisla’s family in the alliance, leaving the two to bicker at who would even be worth sending as replacement. The Fang’s had their chosen but lacked a critical replacement. What the Rei’s lacked in strength they made up for in numbers. To the duo’s convenience, the Rei family did have two talents from the same parents; one was already on the pathway to become chosen: Rei Rangwha; the other, however was… much less so.

Their hands were tied; and couldn’t leave the spot vacant. Behind closed doors and gritted teeth, Rei Han, was taken as a candidate to take the spot of the Untalented. Not a full chosen yet, as he hadn’t met the minimum cultivation to be qualified for. To their dismay, that very reason is why his spot will never be stable.

Made ever worse by Grisla’s recent humiliation of him… which he was sure was spreading around and would reach their ears eventually.

Grisla came a step closer to the older woman, laying a hand as high as he could reach—her shoulder. “I am sorry, Rei Rangwha. Destiny has a different plan for me, I suppose.”

  “It wasn’t supposed to be like this. I am sorry, too, but one of the reasons my brother is laying in a bed right now is because of you. Remember that please.”

  “I… understand.” Grisla nodded.

That being said, the two walked in dry silence through the hallway until they finally reached Han’s door.