Jen leaned over the table and looked at Sky. "What do you say?"

Sky could say nothing and Jen barreled through his hesitation.

"It'll solve all our problems. The Sun Dynasty will be secured. I'll just declare it a divine miracle by the Water Dragon and a heavenly blessing on Lian's rule. Everyone will believe me after all." She gave a roguish smirk that could rival his own. "And really, Lian isn't half bad in - "

"I'm sitting right here." Lian cautioned. She was working at her desk. She didn't look at them and she couldn't have sounded colder unless she was made of ice.

Sky swallowed. "And you thought of me. I'm...flattered."

"First name that came to mind," Jen said.

"Liar," said Lian.

"I mentioned Black Whirlwind as a joke." Jen turned back to Sky. "So what do you say?"

Sky closed his eyes. Say yes and he'd be in the midst of a situation more explosive than anything Kang could dream up. Say no....and he didn't even want to know what happened to men who said no to an Empress and an imperial hero. So he chose.

"I'll do it." He threw his shoulders back and managed a grin. "Anything for the Empire."

"'Anything for the Empire?' Don't sound so thrilled, Sky," Lian said shortly. "And you forgot to ask for the terms."

"What terms?"

Lian laughed. It was not pleasant. "You chose the Lady, but the Tiger is making all the rules."

Sky looked at Jen. "I'd really like to know the terms now."

"It's very simple." Jen smiled wickedly. It was mostly teeth. "Lian and I? We're a matched pair. And Master Li never did teach me to share."

And so the great lineage of the Sun dynasty was preserved as the Celestial Bureaucracy itself blessed the Empress Sun Lian with a child who knew no human father - but, as some noted, was remarkably good at picking locks.