Chapter 7 — Bound and Unbound

The first signs of consciousness that Yixing registered came in the form of pain. Pain in his arms, legs. Pain in his head, in his stomach. When his eyes began to flicker open, they were savaged by a shock of white light. For a brief moment, the prince concluded that he must have been dead. But the ache all over his body only intensified as he came to.

Yixing sat up. His body shook with the effort. He found himself lying in a bed of fine white sand, his clothing damp and cold. The sky was thick with clouds. All around him, the scenery was alien. As he gathered his wits about him, he realized that the storm had thrashed them about before eventually washing them up on the shores of an uncharted island. But even more disconcerting was the miles upon miles upon miles of empty, open ocean. 

The prince stood on shaky legs. The last thing he remembered was the lifeboat falling into the water, Captain Huang Lei being shot with an arrow, Eunuch Jun swearing the oath of the Order of the White Lion, and the Chimera disappearing in the storm. But the ship was nowhere in sight. Neither was the Relentless. Or any ships, for that matter. 

Yixing swallowed and tried to keep panic from grabbing hold of him. He was whispering curses under his breath. First order of business was to find his companions: Old Bi Yu, the Diviner, and Eunuch Jun. Yixing turned and started walking down one side of the shore. He hugged his arms around his torso, trying to keep the warmth of his body from escaping into the icy bite of the wind. A few meters away, he spied the lifeboat and the Diviner laying facedown in the sand right by it. He dashed toward her.

“Madame Diviner!” he shouted, his voice hoarse. “Old Bi Yu!” 

Yixing grabbed her by the arms and had to drag the Old Woman away from the shallow waves, where she had lain throughout the night. 

“Madam Diviner!” Yixing shouted, taking the old woman’s face between his hands and lightly slapping her cheeks. Yixing lowered his head and pressed his ears to the woman’s chest. Her body was growing cold but there was a light thumping in her ribcage. Yixing continued to call out to the Diviner, switching between all her titles and names, hoping to get a response. Her heartbeat was weak, but still going. Her hands were already as cold as death, though. The old woman was suffering from hypothermia after being in the water too long. The sun was hidden behind an overcast sky, and the Diviner’s weakened body would not be able to generate enough heat fast enough on its own. How many more of those who were close to him would die in the span of three days? 

His mother. His father. Youqing and Liang. Captain Huang. And now Old Bi Yu. He heard a wheezing noise. Yixing bent his ear down to the Diviner.

“Old Bi Yu!” he said. “Stay with me, Madame!”

Yixing reached for the clasps of his shirt, thinking to wrap it around the old woman to help her get warmer. But the woman started to reach up at him again. Her raspy breath was light against his ear. 

“Your Highness,” the Diviner whispered with the thinnest of breaths. “You need to make the journey. Bear gifts. Bury the bones. Renew the mandate. You are the last one.”

“Madam—,” Yixing called out, trying to keep her conscious. But with the last of her strength, the Diviner pressed something against Yixing’s chest. The prince grasped onto the bulky package, wrapped in gray cloth just as the Diviner took a sharp inhale of air and exp