Obviously, the servants could not contradict their mistress. That meant they had to hold their tongues in the face of my excuse. I dismissed them and they left the room. I smirked and check on the children. I lifted them up and took some time to coo pleasantly at them. They laughed and giggled. I allowed Analim to come in and play with them as well. "When my wings turn white again, will you return home with me?" he asked me. That made me raise an eyebrow. "Is that really an option?" I asked. Analim looked around the room nervously and said "That humble wish is what is keeping me hopeful in this time of crisis. I really would like to believe it, Dabriel." There was a pause. I felt there was nothing left to say, so I remained silent. That was not the course of action Analim wanted. "You did not answer." he reminded. "If you truly want me to go with you, that may have to wait until the death of our emperor. We have the contract now." Analim's eyes narrowed a bit and said "You are evading. Will you go?" It was clear he was not going to drop this. I nodded my head and told him that I would.
He left soon after that. I was alone until morning when I snuck out the house again. When I got to the tournament, there were several open slots. The dead assassins we had killed were all competitors. I even had a BYE round to advance through. Checking the names of opponents, there were no longer many peasants or commoners left in the competition. I went against another coupled of Huli clan members. I slowly butchered them this time. This was as much to send a message to my enemies as it was to entertain. I had no doubt it would enter me into a feud with the Huli clan members, but I did not care. I was not planning to use this form for much. I also was not a person that could go missing long enough to actually have a needed use for this form. I had made it into the Round of 16. I was the only lowborn there. I was up against a cheerful Ming. "We rescued you yesterday, but this is a tournament. I'm not going easy on you." I decided to go easy on him and let him live. He was taken off the field by Meng who had already been defeated. The next opponent was Kun. I forfeited the match.
I bowed to Kun and said "After that daring rescue, I defer to someone I want to win with all my heart. Dabriel wishes senior well in his endeavors." Kun looked at me with surprise etched on his face. I left the arena and found a lot of goons waiting for me. I slaughtered them all and made it back to the house. I transformed into female form and left the room. Downstairs for the first time in days, everyone was surprised. I told them that I felt well enough to start training. I had to get ready for the exhibition match with Consort Mao Gengxin after all. The Emperor called for me and the others of the household the next day. We were there in order to watch the finals of all the various tournaments that took place. There was a special gallery for the concubines of low rank. Opposite us was the gallery for the consorts and their attendants. They were even being served meals. To the north was the royal box. Wang Jing and Hua Mei sat on golden thrones. On the right of him were ornate seats crafted for his mother and sister. On Hua Mei's left were less ornately crafted seats for Empress Dowager Ai and her daughter.
The emperor had been watching my performance the whole time from the royal box. It was even the talk in the streets how the only male Wang Jing actually paid close attention to were my matches. The winner of the spear contests were both commoners. The male fan contest was a commoner while the female fan tournament was won by a Mao clan member. For the staff finals, a male Shen clan member and a female member of the Liu clan were victorious. I did not care for the fights until Kun appeared. He was in the finals against a member of the Liao clan. They seemed evenly matched until Kun was able to take the well earned victory with a feint to the left followed with a vertical strike to the right. He was given a cash prize for the win and was made a Third Class Sergeant. That seemed to be the last contest. The emperor got up and addressed the crowd and said that he was proud to announce the archery tournament for the next day. "However, before that is to be undertaken, I am going to fulfil a request. Consort Mao Gengxin challenges Attendant Yawen. It happens now."
