After Elder Mira’s departure, Aethros sat for a long time staring at the jade pendant in his palm while his mind worked through the implications of what had just occurred and what it might mean for his plans moving forward. The protective formations carved into the jade were genuine and functional, not some decorative fake designed to make the giver appear generous while providing no actual benefit, and the level of skill required to create such arrays suggested that Elder Mira either possessed formation knowledge far beyond what was common in this era or had access to resources and connections that the declining Vex family should not be able to afford. Either possibility raised questions about her true identity and what reasons she might have for remaining with a third-rate family when someone of her cultivation level could easily find positions of honor and authority in major sects. The pendant’s protective capabilities would be invaluable during the meridian reconstruction proces

Six days passed before Aethros trusted his body enough to try.He spent them building muscle through exercises Roran taught him, forcing down every meal no matter how bland it tasted, no matter how his stomach protested the sudden increase in food after years of neglect. In the quiet hours after Roran left for the night, he studied the phoenix fire threaded through his meridians, mapping its shape the way a locksmith traces the tumblers of an unfamiliar lock before ever attempting to turn it.Each session taught him something new about the damage. The fire had settled deepest near the wrist and elbow joints, thinner along the straight stretches of the forearm. It made a grim kind of sense. Joints held more spiritual pathways bundled together in tighter space, more places for the original attacker to do lasting harm with less effort and less risk of the boy simply dying outright.He spent one full night doing nothing but tracing that pattern from wrist to shoulder, memorizing every kno

Lady Miranda summoned the family to dinner the following evening, the ultimatum still hanging over the household like smoke that had not yet cleared from the room.“She doesn’t call formal dinners unless there’s something to decide,” Roran said, helping Aethros into a clean robe that still hung loose on his frame despite two weeks of proper meals. “After yesterday, I’d guess this is about the marriage. What else would it be.”“Then I suppose we’ll find out.”The dining hall held more tension than warmth, candlelight catching against old but well kept furniture that had somehow survived the family’s decline even as everything else eroded around it. The table was set with more formality than the usual meals, extra care taken with the arrangement despite the grim purpose behind it. Lord Cassian sat at the head, Lady Miranda beside him, Helena across from an empty seat that had clearly not been used in years, the chair itself slightly dusty at the edges.Nobody looked pleased to see him f

Through a break in the trees he found her. A young woman in pale blue robes, backed against a rock face, blood soaking through a wound at her shoulder that had already darkened the fabric to nearly black in the dim forest light.Frost flickered unstable at her fingertips, a technique she couldn’t fully summon through the pain, sparks of it dying before they could take proper shape or do any real harm to her attackers. Four men in dark leather circled her, blades drawn, spreading out to cut off every angle of retreat she might have attempted.“Leave her,” Aethros said, stepping into the clearing, his voice carrying more weight than his crippled appearance should have allowed.The nearest bandit turned and laughed, an ugly bark of a sound that carried no real humor in it, more contempt than amusement. “Look at this. Another one wants to die today. Must be something in the water around here.”“I’m not asking twice.”“You’re not asking anything, boy.” The bandit spat to the side, delibera

Aethros didn’t react outwardly to the number, though it was substantial on its face, more coin than the entire Vex kitchen budget saw across two full months of careful management. He also knew, from memory that predated this era by three millennia, exactly what moonroot alone had commanded from serious buyers in his original lifetime, and he did the mental arithmetic of adjusting that figure for whatever scarcity might have shifted across three thousand years of decline in cultivation knowledge.“That’s low,” Aethros said simply. “Fifty taels for six moonroot stalks and a full vine of bloodthorn berries. You said yourself sect alchemists would pay in gold bars for something this rare. Fifty taels isn’t gold bars. It isn’t close.”Finnian’s easy smile faltered slightly, replaced by something more careful, more assessing. He leaned back in his chair, studying Aethros with new interest. “You drive a hard bargain for a young master who claims not to know the current market.”“I know the v