false promises
Was the previous day a dream? Is fate playing tricks on her?
“My lady, it’s time to start your day.” a serpent-like maid greeted her in her bedroom.
“Beisht?” Yelan pinched her cheeks and closed her eyes shut. She blinked and felt the sensation on her cheeks. In her hair was the ribbon, Ningguang braided in between her hair. It was not a dream. “Am I going crazy?”
Her serpent maid approached her young mistress and tended to her appearance. “With this hair, your majesty? Absolutely.”
Yelan wanted to preserve the memory from last night even if her serpent companion pulled her head just to untangle her hair. With the pen and random journal she picked up, she wrote down what Ningguang looked like. Eyes red like rubies, hair that rivals porcelain, and skin that pearls envy. She gripped the pen with all her might and continued to write everything that occurred. Her palm was covered in residual ink, yet she persisted. She never left her vanity to ensure her memory was not a fleeting dream.
Once she dotted her last statement, she realized a detail she forgot to ask about the day before. What did Ningguang mean by she will find a way? Will she escape her father’s clutches? But it’s far too dangerous. The distance between the Lunar palace and the Palace of the Depths is too far for a free fall. She’d heard of a previous entity who tried to jump from the moon to the ocean but failed miserably. Their body reduced to fragments of themselves, and the only salvation would be to transmogrify the body. Yelan began to wonder herself as she prepared to greet her father with a good morning.
It was the first time she had seen him in such a state. “Yelan,” his grip on the fork was stern. Usually, he’d be a bit more elegant yet free. “How were last night’s tides?”
“The tides? They were fine, father. Same as always.” She stuffed her cheek with her breakfast. Hopeful of what her father would think.
“They were too violent. The gods above are always watching us. Keep it in mind.” Osial gently pinched his daughter’s cheeks. “I don’t want you to receive a deathly smite from Asmoday herself.”
“What did the mortals think of my tides?” Yelan asked and noticed a face her father had never made.
“We are gods. They are mortal beings. Their opinion of the matter is irrelevant. If you’re worried whether they would get injured, I suggest you keep their existence in mind.” Has her father always looked so indifferent?
“Understood, father.” Yelan’s father turned rather cold unexpectedly. Almost as if he was a different person.
The path back to her room was suffocating. The ocean was wide enough to encompass the world but felt restricting. The walls grew thinner, and the ceiling grew taller. She took some potions and magical ores and hid them inside her pocket. She had continued the same routine with each day that passed. Days turned to weeks, and weeks turned into months that turned into seasons. The chance to see Ningguang again ate her alive.
As usual, her duty is to maintain the tides. Allowing water to follow and flow through her feet and fingers from the ravaging plates beneath the ocean. In the distance was the geo archon, building cliffs and carving land from what had already existed. With what freedom Yelan had, she copied what was infront of her. Crashing the waves on cliffs and increasing the tides.
Mimicking the archon, she decided to push one last time and accidentally created a staircase from water. It did not look like the fluid mud and solid landform. She looked to her side and noticed fog forming as the day slowly ended. She took a step and eventually reached halfway to the Lunar empire. She reached out to the waterfall, creating fog, and grabbed hold like a hand to a rope. She pulled herself up and saw the staircase she made descend and collapsed.
The sight of the Lunar Palace at night was a sight to behold. It resembled the pearls of the siren’s tears and the inside of shells. The same creek they were introduced to each other was all the same.
“Yelan?” The same girl with eyes like fluid fire. “What are you doing here?! How did you get here?!” She looked around and lowered her voice. Pattiing her friend and was amused at the sight.
“Ning…” She could burn the sight in front of her. “I don’t… I don’t know… I just pushed a pillar of water, and I got here.”
One of Ningguang’s maids found the serpent’s heir and rushed to cover her with a veil. “My lady! His majesty is coming! Quick!” The maids rushed to hide the child.
Yelan hid underneath the maid’s skirt and could hear the discussions between the Lunar Emperor and Ningguang. The information between them could never reach outsiders, but the stubborn child listened. Information that her father had never told her, information about the world that she had yet to discover. It took a while before the wind caught up with those outside the palace.
“Ningning… How is the oracle work faring?” the Lunar Emperor’s tone was kind, yet his words said otherwise. It was empty. Much emptier than Osial’s. “I trust that it is doing wonderfully?”
“It is doing well, your majesty,” Banxiao said. “The stars and the universe had provided us new information and—”
“I asked Ningguang.” The Lunar Emperor raised his tone. The winds were sharp and crashed with the shrubbery. “Forgive me. I asked my daughter, not any of you three.”
“Forgive me for rudely interrupting your conversation.” Banxiao bowed and saw the Lunar Emperor’s feet approach her. The force of his hands on her hair was similar to what Yelan had made.
The Lunar Emperor had displayed a side of her that Yelan could never imagine. He was violent and rude. Pulling Banxiao’s hair up to raise her head was a horrifying thought. Ningguang was stunned to see her beloved retainers receive her father’s anger. It wasn’t unusual, as the Lunar Emperor had done something similar in the past. But, it hurt her to witness.
“As Banxiao stated, it is doing well…” Her hands quivered, forming a fist behind her back. “Please let go of her…” She said softly. “P-please…”
“How well?” The Lunar Emperor eased his grip and flicked his wrist. “Say it louder, my Ningning.”
Ningguang explained the current state of the bubble universes and the stars. She said everything she read in perfect clarity, slowly putting a grin on her father’s face. All details about the constellations and what her own had entailed. According to her readings, she was supposed to lead a powerful nation once she had reached a certain age. It was unclear as her skills were less sharp than an archon’s. Satisfied, The Lunar Emperor asked her to rest, for the future rested on her hands.
Watching the emperor leave, Yelan emerged from Baiwen’s skirt. They all tended to the harassed maid, but she assured them she was fine.
“I’m sorry,” Yelan said. “I shouldn’t have come.”
“No, it’s not your fault,” Baishi assured. “Anyhow, we should bring you back to the sea. Else, Osial would destroy this palace to shreds,” she whispered.
Just before Yelan agreed to leave, she pulled out a magical ore and crushed it between her palms. It created a crystal resembling the moon but was much like a pearl. She placed it on Ningguang’s palm and bid her farewell.
“Write me a letter,” she said just before the maid had pressed her hands tight. “Please, write me a letter.”
“Write me back,” Yelan answered.
“I’ll be waiting.” Her expression was kind yet helpless.
“Promise?” their pinkies hooking each other. “We do this to keep our word. People in the mortal world do it often to their friends.”
Ningguang smiled, learning something new from the world she could not attain, “I will do whatever it takes to honor your word.”
Her words were mature, yet her body was humble and small. The last thing Yelan remembered was starlight porting her back to the coast. She looked up at the moon and saw the shadow of the empire loom beside it. The moonlight mirrored into her eyes, and she wondered if Ningguang saw herself as the serpent heir.
Yelan did her best to write a letter and traced the address and receiver with her pinky. She had hoped that the one she longed to treasure would receive it. Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into years. Not once did Ningguang reply. Yelan never gave up writing to her until an official envelope arrived at her desk by her fingers. It had the Lunar Empire’s emblem and was addressed to her.
Ningguang had cast away Yelan.
That day, the waves and tides were enough to tear a ship to shreds. She could not hide any longer. Luckily, the storm created the perfect excuse for her tantrum. Unlucky that the geo archon took notice of her anger.