A Fiery Spirit

Book 0: A Bright Heart

by Kate Chenli

Genres: Sword & Sorcery; YA Romance

Synopsis

Even after defeating her murderer, Prince Ren, Mingshin has no time to rest. The youngest prince's shocking death leaves the royal family shaken, and Mingshin is determined to get answers. She soon discovers that Wen was killed by a magical olfactory-delivered poison that drove him to suicide.

But which dark sorcerer is responsible? The Night Dragon, Ren's shadowy master, has yet to show his face. Mingshin knows it is only a matter of time before he discovers that she carries the immensely powerful Divine Stone. She already used the stone once to change the world's timeline and cannot imagine what will happen if he uses it to gain power.

As the Night Dragon closes in, Mingshin must decide whether she trusts her friends enough to share the secrets of the powerful stone she is fated to protect. Will Jieh, who has been raised to loathe the use of magic, continue loving her after he learns she's becoming a mage? Mingshin must find the courage to unveil her true powers to her friends to stop the Night Dragon from destroying this timeline once and for all.

Release date: June 17, 2025

Publisher: Union Square & Co.

Print pages: 320

Sample

Kneeling before the coffin, my cousin Aylin throws her head back and emits a howling wail. As Jieh and I enter the Mourning Hall, she buries her face in both hands, her shoulders shaking from sobbing.

I bet she’s laughing inside.

Hand in hand, Jieh and I pass dozens of servants in gray tunics flanking the ivory carpet that runs down the center of the room. All dressed in white per custom, the officials and their sons pause their whispering and bow to us. Like Jieh, I wear warm but dull-colored clothes under a white robe. Only a pearl flower adorns my braided hair.

Prince Wen’s name is inked across a large white cloth draped against a far wall. Beneath it across a long table, several burners containing incense sticks have been arranged equidistant from one another. Xunloons—copper coal stoves equipped with bronze mesh covers—stand in rows, giving off warmth.

Once we reach the long table, a servant steps forward and presents us each with two incense sticks, wisps of smoke rising from their smoldering tips. We hold the ritual offering in front of us with both hands and bow three times, to say goodbye and offer Prince Wen our final respects. Meanwhile, I watch Aylin out of the corner of my eye. She keeps her head down. Tradition dictates that she must kneel beside her betrothed’s body since first light to guard his spirit, until the coffin is carried away for burial later in the day.

Jieh and I stand our incense sticks upright in the soil at the base of the burners. As I turn to leave, Aylin looks up suddenly. For a fleeting moment, our gazes lock. Despite her cheeks chafed by the cold, her eyes are so bright with delight my gut gives a sickening lurch.

Jieh and I nod at each other, before he proceeds to the spacious area behind the servants. The officials who have gathered swarm over him, expressing their sympathies for Wen’s passing. Jieh addresses each by name.

I’m supposed to join the other women in the inner suite, but I take my time ambling through the crowd, listening in on small talk and gossip. My enhanced hearing certainly helps with my spying.

I feel a tight squeeze in my chest. Recently, I’ve found that my vision and hearing have improved greatly, like I can spot a moth under the moonlight and pick out the sound of its flapping wings if I’m close enough. Does it have anything to do with the fact that I’m able to detect the use of certain magic?

I’ll have to ask Hanxin if Sense sorcery also heightens vision and hearing.

Hell. It had better not be magic I’m attaining, as High Priestess Sudaji hoped.

I weave through the throng, picking up bits of conversations. So far, I haven’t heard anything worthwhile.

My uncle is chatting with two minor officials. One of them wears a fawning smile that pools into every crease of his round pudgy face. “I hear Prince Kai is hunting down the traitor’s accomplice outside the capital,” he whispers.

My ears perk up while I look away, so they don’t notice me eavesdropping.

“It’s comforting to know His Highness has been entrusted with such an important task,” the official says dramatically. “Oh, Heaven’s blessing.”

Another man gushes, “I’m sure Prince Kai will capture all of them. His Majesty will be so proud of his heroic son.”

A coil tightens inside me.

While Kai was assigned the significant task of hunting down the accomplice of Ren the traitor—though only the first-ranking officials have been told about the Night Dragon—Jieh has been given the mundane charge of planning and overseeing Wen’s funeral, including receiving words of commiseration on behalf of the King today. This sharp contrast is causing a lot of speculation among the nobles in the capital. The most alarming question laid bare by the gossip is, Has Jieh lost the King’s trust?

Apparently, some minor officials believe so, enough that they are using this rare opportunity to flatter my uncle, a crucial member in Kai’s circle.

How many other officials are secretly gambling their support on Kai’s pursuit of the throne?

“After being wrongfully jailed for months, Prince Kai didn’t say a word of complaint, but instead carried out his duty to the kingdom and its people steadfastly,” the first man babbles.

Not months, but weeks, you fool. But what does it matter? The praise for Kai’s perseverance is spreading throughout the capital, orchestrated by none other than my uncle.

“What a strong soul he has,” the second man says. “It must be blessed by Heaven.”

“Hear, hear,” Uncle Yi replies.

I can’t stand listening to those clowns anymore. I look back at the white cloth inked with Wen’s name. If Minister Sun was in any way responsible for the death of Jieh’s brother, I will expose his crime.

I glance around until I find Grand Scholar Yu. He’s conversing with Prime Minister Ang. I’ve approached Yu discreetly, dropping hints that foul play may be involved in his nephew’s suicide, in the hope of obtaining his help. Yet he’s acted cold and indifferent.

That’s quite in line with his character, though, according to my future mother-in-law, Royal Lady Hwa. “He used to be more outspoken as a young man,” she said. “After the King banned the knowledge of magic, the former Grand Scholar Yang grumbled in private that the scholars should be exempt from the banning as it violated everything they stood for as academics. When His Majesty heard of it, he had Yang executed and his family exiled to a mining town. Yu, Yang’s favorite student, who stayed silent throughout the event, was promoted as the next grand scholar. Since then, he’s never said one word more than necessary so no one can hold anything over him. He must have learned his lesson from Yang.”

Grand Scholar Yu won’t be of help to us. He’s been around court politics for a decade and never taken a side, not even his nephew’s. He won’t take a side now.

I spot Master Chung standing apart from the crowd, accompanied by an anxious-looking young man. The musician and his son are never good at mingling with politicians.

“Your Grace,” Master Chung exclaims as soon as I reach them. He starts to bow, but immediately puts two hands out to stop me from curtsying. “I’m not worthy, Princessa.”

“My teacher for one day is my teacher for a lifetime,” I quote the saying. “No matter what titles I have, I’ll forever be your student, Master Chung.”

“You honor me, Princessa.” He gestures at the young man next to him. “I’m sure you haven’t met my son, Chung Leung. He’s studying at the Royal Xueyuan Academy, under the tutelage of Grand Scholar Yu himself.” The old man’s face radiates with pride.

I turn to Leung. “I’ve heard of you, Mister Chung. You are Grand Scholar Yu’s best student.” But I also know him as one of the few people Ren couldn’t buy off in my former life.

How frustrated Ren was. Under his influence, I used to think anyone can be bought, with the right price. Now I know better: Friendship and loyalty must be earned; anything that can be bought isn’t worth it and won’t last.

In his early twenties, Leung has the typical appearance of a young scholar: pale skin from constantly studying indoors, curious and eager eyes, a furrowed brow undoubtedly from years of dedicated concentration.

Leung’s face brightens. “I’m deeply honored, Princessa, that you know me.” He rubs his hands together, a nervous chuckle in his throat. “I’ve been eager to meet you, Princessa. I can’t believe I finally have the opportunity. My father speaks highly of you, and I’ve admired you since you defeated the traitor to the throne.”

My cheeks heat up. “Oh, thank you. It was a terrible fight that day and many people were injured, including my cousin Bo.” Uncle Yi invited a few doctors to his house to treat Bo, but I’ve heard there’s no improvement.

“My son is helping tend to Mister Sun Bo,” Master Chung says.

Leung nods. “I volunteered to look at Mister Sun’s condition, to see if there’s any way I can help. I specialize in medicine and herbs, but I’m not a doctor.”

“You’re being modest,” I say. “Grand Scholar Yu is proud of you because of your knowledge and interest in a vast range of subjects.”

Leung blushes. “I don’t deserve such high praise.”

Master Chung’s smile, though, would have been much wider if we were not at a funeral.

“How is my cousin’s head injury, Mister Chung?” I ask, watching Leung’s expression closely. “I hope he’s recovered, considering he received one punch from the traitor.”

Leung’s face flickers through several expressions before he glances away. “I don’t really know why Mister Sun hasn’t recovered,” he murmurs.

I sigh. “Prince Wen’s passing is very unfortunate. I heard you were close?”

Leung nods once. His jaw flexes and he lowers his voice further. “When I used to visit Prince Wen, sometimes Miss Sun was present, too. I thought he’d be happy to have the woman he loved there with him. But he appeared agitated, gloomy, even forlorn, and the feelings he displayed worsened over time.”

“Worsened to the point that he killed himself.” It’s believed that after ordering his servants away, Wen grabbed a rail of the bridge and threw himself over the side into the pond below.

Did he finally realize what a vile woman Aylin is?

Master Chung frowns at his son. “Don’t spread speculation about the prince. It’s not your place.”

Leung bows. “Sorry, Baba.” When he straightens, he darts me an uneasy but intense stare.

My heart skips an awful beat. Leung knows something about Wen’s unusual death.

I take a deep breath. “It’s nice to see you again, Master Chung. And a pleasure to meet you, Mister Chung.”

“It’s nice to see you, too, Princessa,” Master Chung says.

“The pleasure is mine, Your Grace,” Leung says. “May your days ahead be filled with the Saints’ wisdom.”

“Same here.”

When I reach the inner suite, I lift the thin curtain that separates it from the main chamber, and step in.

Royal Lady Yu is leaning against a doorframe. She’s all frail bones jutting out beneath sallow skin; shadows cling under her eyes. Likely she hasn’t eaten or slept much since Wen’s death.

Her grief-ridden eyes glare at my cousin through the curtain. Princess Yunle, my best friend, sets a hand on her shoulder and whispers words of condolence, but I doubt Yu hears any comfort. Her attention is focused on the black sandalwood coffin that holds her son’s body. Despite my dislike of her as a person, I feel a twinge of sorrow for her loss.

I move farther into the room.

The Royal Ladies are the only ones who have the privilege to lounge upon chaises, while the noblewomen stand around them. Royal Lady Hwa’s face is tilted up and she looks over the assembly with the imperious indifference of the sun. Royal Lady Bai, Kai’s mother, greets everyone with a nod, her expression neutrally kind and her voice gentle, but from time to time, I catch the gleam of a blade flashing past her eyes.

If Hwa is a keen-edged sword out of its scabbard, its lethal brilliance for everyone to see, then Bai is a serrated dagger wrapped in silk but still sharp enough to draw blood.

My mind flashes back to the memory of her body hanging from the rafter of the prison cell next to mine. Her panic and despair just minutes before, so unlike her presence now, the embodiment of calm and pride.

I recall myself being jailed, waiting for my fate to be decided by the man who betrayed my love. I’m no longer that scared, desperate girl; I’ve become a fighter determined to control my own fate.

Both Hwa and Bai are surrounded by their own clique of sycophants, so I don’t approach my future mother-in-law. I turn away just as Yunle joins me.

“I haven’t seen you in a while,” I say. “How have Royal Council meetings been?” After years of listening at the meetings, the princess has finally been allowed to speak up, to express her opinions.

Yunle shrugs. “So far so good. I’ve been making many proposals.”

“I bet they’re impressed.”

She points at the main chamber with her chin. “You’ll need to ask those old men if they are.”

She sounds a little too flippant for her usual demeanor. Is she not telling me something? Or maybe she’s still grieving Wen’s untimely demise.

I have a sudden, overwhelming sensation of a gaze drilling into my back. I turn to find Bai observing me; no, more like studying me.

She waves. “Princessa Lu. Please come here.”

Yunle shoots me a look of mixed alarm and curiosity. I notice my future mother-in-law has gotten out of her chaise and come to stand near Royal Lady Yu. Her head whirls in my direction, her face darkening, as I walk toward Bai.

After I curtsy, Bai holds my hand. “I’ve never thanked you officially for how you helped Kai fight the traitor. You were very brave.”

I lift a brow. Helped? Is she saying that Kai was the hero taking down Ren?

The women are watching me with bated breath. There is a hint of challenge in Bai’s eyes, as if daring me to defy her words.

She doesn’t know me at all, does she?

“You have no need to thank me, Your Majestic Ladyship,” I say. “I was honored to help defend the kingdom, but Jieh was especially brave for both fighting the traitor and protecting Prince Kai, his brother, from harm.”

Some women blanch and some others simper. Bai’s smile freezes on her face.

A keening wail bursts out from the main chamber, drawing everyone’s attention.

Not surprisingly, it’s Aylin again.

I catch a sight of Uncle Yi’s flitting frown. He apparently forgot to tell her not to overact.

Leung grimaces at Aylin the way one would at a pile of dung. Jieh glowers at my cousin, his lips a tight line. Aylin is almost making a mockery of his brother’s tragedy with her fake grief.

Please, Jieh, it’s not the time to lash out.

Royal Lady Yu sweeps the curtain aside and bolts into the main chamber. When she reaches Aylin, she smacks her so hard that my cousin flops to the side.

“You broom star! Stop your phony performance!” Royal Lady Yu shouts while raining fists on Aylin. “My son wouldn’t have died if he wasn’t engaged to you! You shameless broom star!”

Aylin screams as she tries to block the blows with her arms.

“Pull them apart!” Jieh commands, jolting everyone out of their shock.

Yunle dashes to the raging Royal Lady and I follow. Each grabbing a flailing arm of Yu’s, we drag her back. Uncle Yi hurries to Aylin and bends down to examine her face—he can’t have his valued goods damaged, can he?

Royal Lady Yu struggles against our hold.

“Please calm down, my lady,” Yunle whispers. “Some are eager to see you make a scene.”

Grand Scholar Yu has come near. “Get ahold of yourself, sister,” he snaps. “Haven’t you disgraced yourself enough?”

The fight drains out of Royal Lady Yu. She slumps against us and weeps, large tears rolling down her cheeks. Her brother appears mostly annoyed, but I glimpse a fleeting moment of tenderness and sympathy.

When Uncle Yi straightens, he turns to Jieh and gives a formal greeting of deference, with one fist wrapped around the other before his chest. “Your Highness, I ask you to please uphold the justice for my daughter.” His voice rings out deep and strong. “In addition to the physical harm, Her Majestic Royal Ladyship has maliciously tainted my daughter’s honor and good name.”

Yunle and I exchange a glance. Royal Lady Yu has accused Aylin of being a jinx by calling her a broom star, as people believe shooting stars bring bad luck and they look like a broom with trailing bristles.

As if getting the hint from her father, Aylin sobs harder. I must admit, she has mastered the art of crying beautifully, like a blooming flower dripping with dew. A handful of young men are sneaking lustful glances at her.

Jieh’s face hardens into granite. “I shall bring the matter to the King immediately, Minister Sun.”

“What a good show we had today,” Royal Lady Hwa says while seated on a large couch covered in silk and layers of mink fur, with an arm propped on a tea table attached to the top of the couch.

The three of us are alone in the resting chamber of Hwa’s residence, attended by her lead maid only.

King Reifeng and Jieh were going to lead the procession of the funeral earlier today to the royal family’s burial site, with lords riding along and the soldiers and guards on foot. But the plan has been delayed after Royal Lady Yu’s outburst.

Hwa’s lead maid serves us all steaming longjing tea. I accept the cup on a tray and sit in a cushioned chair across from Hwa. Jieh sets his tea on the jade table between us.

“I told Yu that there wasn’t a single tear on that little bitch’s face,” Hwa says with a sneer. “Yu just beat the nine souls out of that vixen.”

I snap my head up from the tea. Hwa must have done it when she was standing near Royal Lady Yu.

Jieh leaps up from his chair. “Why did you provoke Yu like that?”

“I did not provoke her,” Hwa says, aloof as a block of ice. “Yu was already mad at that little bitch and blamed her for Wen’s death. I merely echoed her thoughts by pointing out the obvious.”

“That was enough to push Yu over the edge and you knew it,” Jieh counters.

“I did it for you, Jieh, so be grateful! The rumor about that little bitch being a broom star will surely spread. If Kai intends to marry her, he has to think twice now.” Hwa inclines against a pillow and reveals her knife’s-edge smile. “Besides, wasn’t it wonderful to see how Minister Sun offended Grand Scholar Yu by demanding punishment on his sister? That man doesn’t care about his sister, but he surely cares about the impact this will have on his family, his own reputation.”

“But Mother…” Jieh struggles for a moment. “How could you use a mother’s grief over the loss of her son for your gain?”

Exactly my thought. Now and then, I wonder how a cruel woman like Hwa raised an honorable son like Jieh. Sometimes the apple does roll far from the tree.

“I did not,” Hwa barks. “Yu did everything of her own volition. If she cannot control her behavior, she deserves the consequences.”

From what I know, King Reifeng has reprimanded Royal Lady Yu severely, calling her a disgrace and shame, and grounded her.

“Has it ever occurred to you that the incident may make Jieh look incompetent in his father’s eyes, that he can’t even run a funeral smoothly without missteps happening?” I ask Hwa.

My words sound callous, but I’ve long since known that to make people like Hwa admit their mistakes, you’d have to think from their perspective, to make them see how it hurts their own interests.

Hwa doesn’t reply, but the whitening of her knuckles on the teacup tells me that I’ve driven my point home.

Staring over our heads, she scowls. “Who’s that?”

Jieh and I both turn to look out the window behind us. A maidservant is standing in the courtyard, waving at us to catch our attention. She keeps stamping her feet in the winter chill. I suspect she didn’t come nearer because of Fei standing guard at our door.

“How brazen!” Hwa hisses. “Who let her in against my order?”

“I recognize her; she serves His Majesty in the inner court,” Hwa’s lead maid says. “The others must have let her in because she carried an order from the King.”

Hwa gestures at her to go and speak to the girl.

When the lead maid returns, her face is a flash of pale skin. “Your Majestic Ladyship. Your Highness. Your Grace Princessa.” She pauses to take a shuddering breath. “Royal Lady Yu just hanged herself.”

Jieh and I look at each other in horror.

Hwa’s lips curl in a cold smirk. “I suppose I shall have to pay Yu a long overdue visit and cry my heart out.”

Royal Lady Bai’s lifeless body sways from a rafter in the prison cell next to mine. As I watch from the gap between two wooden bars, my being filled with despair, her face morphs into Royal Lady Yu’s. Her eyes snap open.

I reel back and almost fall.

She stares at me and keeps prattling, “My son was murdered.”

Something pitch-black oozes out of the ground beneath her. A huge, formless shadow sprouting countless long tendrils. A sharp spike of dread shoots down my spine. Paralyzing me.

The shadow keeps growing until it wraps Royal Lady Yu in its writhing form.

I open my mouth to shout at her to get away, but all that comes out is a gurgle.

In a blink, the ends of the tendrils twist into fangs and claws the size of my forearm. Royal Lady Yu’s face changes again, into High Priestess Sudaji’s. I shriek.

Sudaji extends an arm toward me, struggling to break free. I burst forward, to reach her, to help her. Yet I find myself unable to move, as though the air around me has frozen solid.

She strives harder, her mouth stretched wide in a silent scream, but the claws hold her trapped. Roils of deep purple smoke, instead of blood, bleed out wherever the fangs bite into her. The tendrils crawl all over her, dragging her away.

I fight with every drop of effort, but I can’t budge.

On my breast, the Divine Stone blinks in quick bursts of light, as if signaling urgency.

Then I feel it.

A power of swirling darkness. Watching me with hunger and malice.

I swivel my head to the left then right, my heart clenched tight as a fist.

Out of the depthless darkness, the shadow reemerges. Its tendrils wriggle, converge, and re-form until it takes on the shape of a man. He looks in his mid-thirties, with long flowing hair. The lines of his face are strong and smooth, as if chiseled out of marble; his eyes gleam like black pearls.

He’s handsome, but a sick, salty taste crawls up my throat.

Xiangyu, the Night Dragon.

He puts out a hand, which belches purple smoke. “Surrender the Divine Stone.”

I spin around and sprint away. He gives chase. After a while, I don’t hear a sound. I risk a glance behind.

Xiangyu is gliding after me, enveloped in a dark cloud that writhes like a giant octopus. His eyes burn red like a pool of magma.

I scream.

“Miss! Miss!”

Someone is shaking me. I gasp, lurching forward out of sleep to see a pair of concerned eyes fastened on me.

“Did you have a nightmare?” Fei asks, one hand holding my shoulder and the other gripping a firework signal stick.

I sit up, nodding breathlessly. Fei lets go.

I touch my pendant hidden beneath my sleeping gown. My insides contract sharply as the Divine Stone flares in a blast of heat. Hastily I look down. Thank Heaven it isn’t glowing.

I startle at the sound of a knock on the door.

“Is everything all right?” a man’s urgent voice asks.

“Yes,” Fei bellows. “We’re fine.”

The man grumbles an acknowledgment and I hear scuffling of boots on the floor, then it’s quiet again.

Fei turns to me, and I force myself to relax. “I dreamed that the Night Dragon was chasing me; he looked monstrous…” My voice trails off as my eyes settle on the rolled-up cloth lying at the bedside table. I pick it up and spread it out in front of me.

One of Hanxin’s delegation painted Xiangyu so my guards and I can recognize him. He looks the same as the vision that appeared in my dream. According to Hanxin, he’s intelligent and charismatic, and Chancellor Lew’Bung and half of the Elders Council were charmed by him immediately. But the first time they met, Hanxin knew something was off about him. Turned out I was right, Hanxin said. He’s been practicing dark magic for at least a decade.

“Perhaps you should put away the drawing,” Fei says. “Constantly focusing on the Night Dragon may be the cause of your nightmare. Elder Hanxin was sure he had fled from Jingshi. He scoured the entire city, remember?”

Hanxin did, many times, before he left with Prince Kai to hunt for the Night Dragon outside the capital. “You’re right, Fei.” But I suspect the fear of losing the Divine Stone to Xiangyu is the main reason why he’s never far from my mind.

When I was granted my second life, I hadn’t known it happened because Sudaji channeled godly power through the Divine Stone to turn back time for two years. More incredibly, I’ve since learned that I was born with my pendant, and it’s my sacred duty to keep the Divine Stone from falling into the hands of the wrong people, especially Xiangyu, the evil mage who calls himself the Night Dragon.

How I will accomplish that without any magic of my own, I don’t really know. The thought has always filled me with anxiety.

But Sudaji believes in me. You were weak in your prior life, she declared, but you’ve become stronger willed, more persistent and determined, the kind of guardian for the Stone.

I set the painting down. “Sorry to wake you up in the middle of the night,” I tell Fei.

For her own safety, Mai now spends the nights in the maids’ bunkroom, while Fei sleeps in my room on a small bed to guard me.

Fei puts an arm around my shoulders. “No need to apologize, Miss. You’ve gone through a lot lately. I was shaken by Royal Lady Yu’s suicide myself. Besides, I’d be nervous too if my life was threatened by the most powerful mage on the continent. But we’re here for you.” She glances at the door, where four men are standing watch outside my bedroom.

Since we learned of the Night Dragon, Jieh has dispatched another quartet of his personal guards to my home; they are taking turns to rest now. If not for the need to preserve my maiden reputation, my prince fiancé would’ve moved in himself, even though his father King would frown upon it.

I feel a sudden blow to my belly. On the dresser across from the bed, the kui antler emits a screeching noise.

Fei leaps up like a cheetah. My blood runs cold.

“The Ward!” we draw the conclusion at the same time. Longzo, Hanxin’s bodyguard and a skilled Portal sorcerer, wove an invisible Ward around my home to protect me; it’s been breached.

Fei dashes to the door and opens it, revealing the four guards already alert with swords at the ready. I scramble out of. . .