Yueshuang stared down at the map, at the route traced in fading ink, at the distance between where she sat and where salvation might lie. Her mind churned with desperate calculations, five days by fast horse, two days for a messenger hawk, the terrifyingly narrow window of time she had to work with.
"I'm thinking," she said quietly, moving to her writing desk with a sudden decisive purpose, "that I need to write two letters."
She pulled out fresh paper and ink, her hands steady despite the turmoil raging inside her.
The first letter would be to the Crimson Howl Clan, carefully worded, strategically crafted.
The second... the second would be for contingencies she hoped she'd never need.
Ah-Ying watched in silence as her mistress began to write, her brushstrokes precise and elegant despite the urgency thrumming through every movement.
