Emika trudged through the drawing room and into her bedchambers at a sedate pace as if her brain was struggling to tell each foot to take the next step. She was in a stupor like someone who sleepwalk.
Sitting on the edge of her bed complete with drapes and a canopy, Emika stared for a long time at the moss-in-snow jade hairpin in her hand. She recalled Shufeng's words: "As long as you have this hairpin I will grant you any favour, any wish, any dream. Neither the laws of Heaven nor the laws of Men can hold me back."
She was restless, her feet shaking, itching to move. Brought to such levels of desperation, she finally made up her mind to act. It would be reckless and dangerous, however Emika could no longer stand the injustice that befell upon her family.
