Threads 398-Recovery 6

The comb tugged at the strands of her hair, causing a faint prickle on her scalp.

“You have gained another inch. An immortal body’s vitality truly is unmatched,” her mother, Ling Qingge, observed.

She was managing to sit up without support today. Though she could feel her focus and energy trickling away from the strain, it was a worthy effort. She sat on her bed beside her mother, hands folded in her lap as Mother tended to her hair. It had been many, many years since they had done this.

“I’m glad. I don’t want to think how long it would take to grow my hair back, otherwise,” Ling Qi said.

“Ah, there is another spark.” Ling Qi winced as she felt her mother pat the flame-resistant damp cloth to her head, extinguishing it.

“You’re taking it much better than the first time I was injured.”

“My daughter has been teaching me to cultivate my nerves.”

She bowed her head in acknowledgment of the mild rebuke. “The sparks are a good sign that the medicine is cleansing the fire qi from my channels.”

“Indeed, so long as your head does not catch fire.”

“Mother… Thank you.”

“I would not deserve to be called even that much, if I could not brush my daughter’s hair.”

“You know that’s not what I’m talking about,” Ling Qi said, taking her turn to admonish. “I understand how I hurt you, coming home like this and when I said I couldn’t apologize.”

Apologizing for something she might do again was not a lie worth telling.

“It is difficult for me to accept, but I believe that you were certain that the assisting General Xia was the best choice for the province. You are far more dutiful than I.”

“No idea how I managed it. Lady Cai said the same thing, but she probably just infected me.”

“It is not fair to upset your mother by being too dedicated and loyal. How am I meant to scold you without sounding like an unvirtuous woman?”

“Apologies, Mother. I will never stop being a troublesome daughter, I think.”

“I suppose not. On another note, have you spoken with Yu Nuan?”

Ling Qi hummed as her mother dabbed at her scalp with the cloth again and resumed combing. It was soft and soothing, though even with her sitting down, Mother had to reach up to do so.

“I did. I got a message from her earlier today. I intended to tell you over dinner. Her leave will line up with ours, and the paperwork is done. We can have the ceremony in two weeks, like we planned.”

“Good. It may be that she does not see it this way, but a clan should be bound by more than a contract.” Ling Qingge teased at a tangle.

“I don’t think she will hate that. She puts on a hard front, but I suspect she merely did not wish to impose.”

“I will trust your judgment. Did you try on your gown?”

“Yes, Mother,” Ling Qi said fondly. “Hanyi helped me with it. The fit is good.”

“I’m glad. A ceremony like this should not be haphazardly presented.” Her mother nodded firmly. “Turn your head to the left, Ling Qi. Your ear is smoking.”

“Thank you, Mother.”

***​

“The glitter over the pond is really nice. Gui missed Big Sister’s mist.”

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Ling Qi exhaled, leaning against his shell, watching the whorls of chill mist ripple out and the sparkle of forming and melting frost reflected in the pond. Her mist was closer to silver now, wafting and ephemeral, more a shimmering frosty veil than a dark cloud.

Her meridians still itched and throbbed, unusable, but now, nearing a full month after the summit, she could finally feel her nascent domain again. Her soul, having burned down to embers in the summit’s climax, was beginning to burgeon under her skin again.

With how much she had been thinking recently on clarity in communication, it was funny that her expressed soul was an obscuring mist. But in recognizing the value of clarity and in enshrining its importance in her cultivation, she could also see the value in denying it to her enemies. That was an imperfect answer though.