Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 120336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 602(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 602(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
This is really happening.
I was no longer Monique from Glory.
Now, I was the official Mountain Mistress of the East.
What the hell did Banks think? My sisters? How much more would our lives change?
Currently, the title still felt foreign, too big, too heavy. But at least now the pressure of it didn’t crush me. It shaped my soul, grounding me as if the mountain itself had settled into my bones.
Alright. It is what it is. If this is my role, then I’m going to act the part until. . .I really become it.
The attendants continued to fuss over me. One smoothed the shimmering gown over my curves. Another zipped me up in the back.
I gazed down at the deep, luminous blue of the sleeveless gown, sparkling with flecks of silver embroidery, as though someone had captured the night sky and stitched it into silk.
“It fits perfectly,” one of the women whispered behind me.
“Of course it does,” another kept her voice low. “The Mountain Mistress is excellence itself. The Mountain Master would not have picked her, if not for that.”
I blinked.
Their words sent a strange warmth spiraling through me, but it wasn’t vanity that gripped me—it was power and it swelled in my chest.
Then, the soft hum of activity paused as the eldest of the women entered with something extravagant in her hands.
I widened my eyes.
Oh wait. . .
In her hands was a delicate crown, a masterpiece of sapphires and silver vines that wove together in a complex design. Tiny dragons had been sculpted into the silver, and diamonds served as their eyes.
“So. . .” I stared at it. “Is that. . .really necessary? I’ve never seen Lei with a crown on.”
“The Grand Master demanded it, Mountain Mistress.”
Of course he did.
Smiling, she lifted the sapphire crown and placed it gently onto my head. The jewels glimmered and traced the curve of my scalp.
The woman stepped back. “I believe she is ready.”
I put my view back to the mirror.
Fuck.
I barely recognized the woman staring back.
She was strong.
Fearless.
A true Mountain Mistress. . .I supposed.
There was a profound silence in the tent as everyone drank in this image.
The soft padding of footsteps broke the quiet.
Oh good.
The woman I’d sent to retrieve my guns slipped back into the tent, moving quickly but with a deliberate care that told me she knew the stakes. Her gaze darted nervously to the others, then locked on me.
In her hands were two small guns, wrapped tightly in a swath of silk to probably disguise what they were.
She clutched them to her chest like sacred relics. “I couldn’t find yours, Mountain Mistress, but I grabbed the first two I could find.”
“That’s good. I just need something that can shoot.”
“I made sure they were loaded.” She unwrapped the silk with trembling fingers and revealed the guns beneath.
“Thank you so much.” I reached out, taking one gun at a time and quickly inspecting them. The cold metal felt solid, familiar, like an extension of me. I slid the magazine from each, verifying the rounds before snapping them back into place.
A sharp gasp came from one of the younger attendants.
I flicked the safety on and nodded at the one who had brought the guns. “What’s your name?”
“Melli.”
“Melli, if you need a favor from me in the future. I’ve got you.”
She looked close to passing out. “O-okay. Thank y-you.”
“No problem. Just ask Chen or my lady-in-waiting, Thandi. They’ll bring you to me.” I bent down slightly, slipping one gun into the deep pocket of my gown.
Please, let this work.
I hoped the silk fabric was heavy enough to disguise the weight, but the action still felt reckless. I placed the second gun into the other pocket.
“We can help you with the fur.” The eldest woman stepped forward, took the thick coat from the other, and draped the massive turquoise fur over my shoulders. “If you have it this way, your hands are free to grab them at any time, but it will still cover the pockets.”
“Perfect.” I looked down, and confirmed she was right. The thick fabric fell in a way that perfectly concealed the outline of the guns.
The women stepped back. “I believe you are ready, Mountain Mistress.”
I looked up at myself in the mirror, draped in elegance and mystery. I presented this image of a woman who commanded respect and fear.
A woman who held power.
A woman who was feared even by herself.
Yet as my gaze met my reflection's eyes, I found a glimmer of Monique still there, buried beneath layers of royal silk and turquoise fur, hidden behind the facade of the Mountain Mistress.
I swallowed.
Just get through this night with Lei being alive. Then, we’ll deal with who I am later.
The room was quiet once more as each woman held her breath.
The effect was immediate.
The, the women’s postures stiffened as if the air itself had turned to stone. Next, fear radiated from them in waves.