Threads Interlude: The White Blade Devil

The first strike would be with the blade of the ninth sword law, striking at the intersection of Discipline and Pride where untempered ego rotted the roots of the General’s Sovereignty. Piercing this defense, her heart pearl would be wounded, allowing unleashed passions to degrade all further decisions.

“On this matter, my authority supersedes yours, sister,” Bai Suzhen said calmly. “And being blunt, I find your objections to be irrational besides. My efforts will grant the army of Zhengjian access to superlative equipment.”

“At what cost, sister?” asked her cousin, arching a perfect eyebrow. Like her, Bai Zhilan appeared by every physical metric as a paragon of the White Serpent. Her white hair spilled all the way to the ground, stopping just short of touching the base earth to be carried by invisible wind. A single dark violet flower, at her temple was its only adornment.

The second strike would be with her primary armament. Its eight ribbons would strike to sever the strings between the General and her lieutenants. Failure was probable on the initial strike, but the attempt would place the General on the back foot.

“To use foreign goods to arm the first and greatest of our armies, even those crafted by a ‘master’ such as this Cai, is an insult to our clan, Bai Suzhen. Others have accepted the deals you have made for they have been trades of trinkets and common goods. This agreement is beyond the pale.”

“Father does not seem to believe so,” Bai Suzhen replied, running a gleaming fingernail along the grain of the wooden desktop which filled the larger part of her office.

Zhilan stood opposite her, stern faced and unamused. Bai Zhilan was, unfortunately, a figure she could not ignore. She, too, stood in the seventh realm, though Suzhen doubted her ability to attain the eighth. Her Way held too many fault lines. However, this did not stop those who opposed her from rallying at her cousin’s call. It truly irritated Bai Suzhen that tradition called for her to call such a blunt instrument “sister.”

“Bai Suzhen, it does not do you good to draw attention to your manipulation of our Clan Head’s declining faculties.”

“That is a bold thing to say, Bai Zhilan.” Bai Suzhen let the General’s name drip from her lips like venom. So Zhilan and her supporters were already willing to make such statements. Concerning. Her father was a cruel man. He was a bitter and angry man. Most of all, he was a tired man. However, no rot had yet touched his soul.

Irritating.

The third strike would require her to wield the seventh blade, anointed in the Sovereignty of Clan, to sever at the root, the blood that bound them, and enable her to act without restraint.

“It is the only reasonable answer to why he would give approval to such an agreement. It still shocks me that you would even dare voice a proposal to trade any part of Grandmother’s body to an outsider,” Bai Zhilan claimed, golden eyes narrow.

“One vial of powdered scale shavings in exchange for five hundred sets of tailored gear crafted by the most skilled talisman maker of our age and a further thousand sets of equipment made by her apprentices? It is an easy deal to make,” Bai Suzhen retorted, steepling her fingers in front of her face. “No, it is your sentimentality that I question, Bai Zhilan. As if Grandmother Serpent or Fabled Yao would disapprove of sharpening our fangs with every resource available when war is coming.”

“Our ancestors would be ashamed that you deem the Bai clan so weak as to require the aid of half-barbarous savages and their abomination of a queen to do so,” Bai Zhilan said coldly. “But I see, as ever, that your brittle mind of steel is beyond reason. Know that your growing madness will not be unopposed.”

“I would not have expected anything else. I welcome your aid in being sharpened for the headship, sister,” Bai Suzhen replied.

The worst thing, she supposed, was that her cousin’s opposition was not even born wholly from the intrusion into her sphere of influence, the army. No, genuine ideology fueled the greater part of her rage.

Troublesome.

The other woman turned on her heel, silhouette narrowing down to a blade’s edge as she vanished from Bai Suzhen’s office, leaving behind the two silent guards, fourth realms the both of them, who had accompanied her to the doorway. Bai Suzhen’s eyes fell upon them.

For them, the first strike would also be the last. The man’s stance was too loose, and he had a deformation in his respiratory pearl which would shatter under a single thrust of the second sword law, slaying him instantly. The woman’s guard was weak on the right side, and her understanding of the Law of Steel was flawed. A single palm strike would shatter her. Brittle blades both. Shameful.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

The two of them bowed low, their faces pale as they made excuses and followed their mistress.

As the door of her office closed, Bai Suzhen closed her eyes, and for a single moment, she allowed herself to grit her teeth. It often felt that she would need to fight her fellows as much as the accursed Sun to lead the Bai from these trying times.

She sat in silence for a time, meditating on the actions she would need to take to shore up her support in the face of more openly hostile opposition.

A gentle knock sounded on her door.

“Who comes?” Bai Suzhen called without opening her eyes.

“It is but humble Lushen with the lady’s tea.”