other coin she’d ever seen. She squinted at the marking—it was nearly five hundred years old.
Sifting through the chest, she saw more old silver and gold coins ranging from a few hundred years old to almost eight hundred. Zhen Ni chewed on her lower lip and sunk down to the cold stone floor, not caring she was in her robe and behaving in the most unladylike manner.
Who exactly was this man she had married?
And what did he hide in that secret compartment in the empty study?
Skybright
The rent in the air revealed brilliant blue skies and a glimpse of lush gardens, a scene entirely different from the shadowed alleyway they had huddled in. After Stone led her through the portal, the crackling noise and pinging against Skybright’s skin seemed to last longer than the previous times. Her world was so suffused in rich indigo that her eyes seemed to pulse with it. One, two, three … She counted slowly until panic began to surge in her chest. Stone squeezed her fingers, and she was reluctant to admit that it reassured her. He knew what he was doing. It wasn’t until she reached twenty-three and her skin was tingling as if bees crawled all over her body that they stepped through to the other side.
The deep perfume of roses, sweetness of orange blossoms, and the sharpness of mint filled her first. Beneath the earthy richness of the soil, there was a subtle fragrance—ethereal—her serpentine senses had never encountered before, as fresh morning dew would smell, mingled with spring sunshine. They had stepped out onto a broad cobblestone path made of a clear, green jade, more extravagant than anything she had ever seen. “What is this place?” she whispered in awe.
“I have been summoned to The Mountain of Heavenly Peace by the Goddess of Accord,” Stone said.
“We are … I am where the gods dwell?” She gaped at him, disbelieving. But where else except in the heavens would the fragrances be so crisp, the colors so true and intense? “Do you visit here often?” She had to ask. Stone had taken her into the depths of hell; she had no inkling he could bring her into the heavens as well. Truly, how powerful was he?
Stone smiled, though it did not reach his eyes. “Unlike the underworld, I must be invited in order to enter Heavenly Peace. It is not a place that is usually open to me.”
“But why were you summoned?”
“I believe the goddess wants to speak with me about the Great Battle that just ended. I was granted permission to bring you with me.”
She almost reached out to clutch his arm. “Am I to meet the goddess too?” Skybright had become accustomed to the grotesque visions and monstrosities that emerged from hell. But this, this was something else entirely. She drew a hand to her breast and pressed it against the soft fabric of her silk dress. “How should I address her? How do I behave?”
“There is no need to feel anxious. I will introduce you to the Goddess of Accord. You can pay your respect by bowing to her.” Stone smiled again, this time more genuinely. He seemed pleased by her awe.
They continued down the curved path, walking side by side. She caught glimpses of green meadows tucked behind peach trees, filled with wildflowers in vibrant oranges and fuchsias, so bright they dazzled her eyes. A soft lapping of water caught her attention, and she craned her neck, seeing the clear green of a pond in the distance, hidden behind ornamental pine trees.
She stopped, her hands gripped at her sides, as if she were playing some childhood game of stop and go. “Is that a dragon?” she whispered.
Stone paused and followed her gaze.
A beast with shimmering light blue scales had its head dipped in the water, drinking from the pond. Small red horns protruded from the top of its head, and long whiskers in dark blue, gray, and white curled from its pointed snout. It was the length of a grown man, with a pair of short, sturdy legs near the front and back of its body.
“Ah,”
Sifting through the chest, she saw more old silver and gold coins ranging from a few hundred years old to almost eight hundred. Zhen Ni chewed on her lower lip and sunk down to the cold stone floor, not caring she was in her robe and behaving in the most unladylike manner.
Who exactly was this man she had married?
And what did he hide in that secret compartment in the empty study?
Skybright
The rent in the air revealed brilliant blue skies and a glimpse of lush gardens, a scene entirely different from the shadowed alleyway they had huddled in. After Stone led her through the portal, the crackling noise and pinging against Skybright’s skin seemed to last longer than the previous times. Her world was so suffused in rich indigo that her eyes seemed to pulse with it. One, two, three … She counted slowly until panic began to surge in her chest. Stone squeezed her fingers, and she was reluctant to admit that it reassured her. He knew what he was doing. It wasn’t until she reached twenty-three and her skin was tingling as if bees crawled all over her body that they stepped through to the other side.
The deep perfume of roses, sweetness of orange blossoms, and the sharpness of mint filled her first. Beneath the earthy richness of the soil, there was a subtle fragrance—ethereal—her serpentine senses had never encountered before, as fresh morning dew would smell, mingled with spring sunshine. They had stepped out onto a broad cobblestone path made of a clear, green jade, more extravagant than anything she had ever seen. “What is this place?” she whispered in awe.
“I have been summoned to The Mountain of Heavenly Peace by the Goddess of Accord,” Stone said.
“We are … I am where the gods dwell?” She gaped at him, disbelieving. But where else except in the heavens would the fragrances be so crisp, the colors so true and intense? “Do you visit here often?” She had to ask. Stone had taken her into the depths of hell; she had no inkling he could bring her into the heavens as well. Truly, how powerful was he?
Stone smiled, though it did not reach his eyes. “Unlike the underworld, I must be invited in order to enter Heavenly Peace. It is not a place that is usually open to me.”
“But why were you summoned?”
“I believe the goddess wants to speak with me about the Great Battle that just ended. I was granted permission to bring you with me.”
She almost reached out to clutch his arm. “Am I to meet the goddess too?” Skybright had become accustomed to the grotesque visions and monstrosities that emerged from hell. But this, this was something else entirely. She drew a hand to her breast and pressed it against the soft fabric of her silk dress. “How should I address her? How do I behave?”
“There is no need to feel anxious. I will introduce you to the Goddess of Accord. You can pay your respect by bowing to her.” Stone smiled again, this time more genuinely. He seemed pleased by her awe.
They continued down the curved path, walking side by side. She caught glimpses of green meadows tucked behind peach trees, filled with wildflowers in vibrant oranges and fuchsias, so bright they dazzled her eyes. A soft lapping of water caught her attention, and she craned her neck, seeing the clear green of a pond in the distance, hidden behind ornamental pine trees.
She stopped, her hands gripped at her sides, as if she were playing some childhood game of stop and go. “Is that a dragon?” she whispered.
Stone paused and followed her gaze.
A beast with shimmering light blue scales had its head dipped in the water, drinking from the pond. Small red horns protruded from the top of its head, and long whiskers in dark blue, gray, and white curled from its pointed snout. It was the length of a grown man, with a pair of short, sturdy legs near the front and back of its body.
“Ah,”
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