Threads 425-Shenglu 4

Whispering Thoughts. Soul Shield. Kin?

“They are.” Ling Qi smoothed the now glittering silks and watched the snow embroidery move like a living panorama over black silk. She could feel her bond with her gown spirit settling back into place, a firm connection, but more complex now. It was the difference between a single spun cord and a braided rope.

Her link with her gown went down into the foundations of her dantian where a cord of energy that glittered with an adamant white thread had anchored deep in her cultivation. It had anchored to the concepts she had been cultivating to build her nascent domain.

It was power.

Threads, the cord binding her dress into the system of her qi, instinctively sought the flows which circulated with her meditations on the nature of power. It made sense. Her dress, the most powerful talisman she owned even now, had always filled her with a sense of security. It was armor fit to turn aside blades and blows and to deflect fire or lightning. In it, she was always prepared for a fight. And if needed, it was her wings, which could carry her away from any threat.

Reality was never so absolute, but for her time in the outer and inner sect, that was the feeling that wearing this dress had given her. So, she understood how those ideas would resonate. Choice, and its corresponding concept, agency, was rooted in power.

Gu Xiulan, her friend, had been the one to force her to see that appearance was another weapon in one’s arsenal. The way she chose to appear was an act of communication. And in changing how she was perceived, she opened or closed doors. This, too, was an act rooted in power.

She really needed to write another letter to the other girl. She was aware there was some kind of disruption going on in the Golden Fields, but she was still worried about the gap in correspondence.

Secure. Secure.

Her gown’s communication was almost like a cat’s purring. The most outlandish affects of her outfit shrunk. Her sleeves shrunk, becoming less dramatically swooping, and her heels—thankfully— sank back to the floor. She really didn’t need to be any taller, but a nice pair of high boots would not go amiss when they were outside or if she were flying. After all, she need not flash her ankles at all and sundry either.

Snug!

The wings on her mantle fluttered, and the lights in her room wobbled and twitched in alignment, casting her shadow long against the wall.

Ling Qi sighed, rubbing her fingers together through the supple satin gloves still covering her hands. They were rather comfy, and the faintly chiming, jeweled bell charms hanging from the delicate silver chain wrapped around her left hand fit over them nicely.

Happy!

She could indulge a little.

Ribbons? Ornament?

She felt the fabric around her shoulders twitching, strips of fabric reaching for her hair.

“Later,” Ling Qi said firmly.

Later!

Having a voice in her head was going to take a little getting used to again.

***

Descending from the floor which held everyone’s personal chambers at both a more sedate pace and a more mortal route, Ling Qi was bemused to see the staff near the meeting room still so on edge. Here, she had an occasion to apologize and sooth startled nerves. There was no looming emergency nor sudden news of an incoming raid, and their visitor was not some highly placed inspector who needed to be satisfied. Bemusement became sheepish as she realized the scale of the alarm and rumors she had sent rippling out with her rush to her rooms.

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But her quick passage was not the sole reason for the wide area of avoidance around the meeting room.

“Our honored guest Sir Lin asked not to be disturbed, and the sensation emerged from the chamber… No one has dared check in further,” said a man who she was quite sure was the manor’s majordomo under Renxiang, and whose name she really should learn. He wore simple white robes lined in the Cai’s crimson, and he bowed to her with exacting precision, awaiting her response.

Ling Qi observed the dense dark qi which shrouded the room like a bubble, containing the rose gold dawn that was Lin Hai almost completely. Her teacher was very forward, and not a little inconsiderate.

“I will take care of all matters of hospitality here. The other guest is merely our other security, provided by the Duchess, greeting their brother disciple,” Ling Qi replied. “If Lady Cai has not already been informed…”

“She is touring the preliminary construction by the lakeside,” the man inserted helpfully into the pause she left.

“Then do send her a messenger informing her that her mother’s disciples are present for a visit,” Ling Qi finished.