"I will not be a concubine!" Yue shouted suddenly, her fear overridden by her lifelong frustration. "I am a prodigy! I have awakened the Ancestral Blood of my clan! I will not be reduced to a trophy for some... some boy!"

  The word hung in the air.

  "Is that what you think this is?" Khaos asked as his voice lowered to a dangerous whisper.

  "It is the oath!" Yue cried out. "My ancestor swore it to his Great-Grandfather! Me, and the five other chosen daughters down the generation to his. All of us are bound to serve the heir of the Li family as concubines. To 'cement the alliance.' To 'repay the favor.' It is archaic! It is barbaric! I am not a currency to be traded!"

  Her eyes burning with defiance.

  "I trained my entire life. I mastered the arts. I led our forces to conquer more areas. And for what? To be handed over like a prize horse because two old men drank too much wine thousands of years ago? I will not do it."

  Silence filled the dimension.

  Khaos looked at her. He looked at the desperate woman who wanted nothing but to control her own life. To choose who to be with and who to follow. Not something already determined by the elders of her clan before she could.

  He sighed. The fire in his eyes dimmed slightly but was quickly replaced by a weary annoyance.

  "You are stupid," Khaos said flatly.

  Yue blinked. "What?"

  "You are genuinely stupid," Khaos repeated. "You do not understand the intentions of your ancestor. Also, you met him. You fought with him. You talked to him briefly. And yet, you know nothing about him."

  Khaos gestured vaguely in the direction of the real world.

  "Li Yu," Khaos said, "is a boy who values freedom and cares for people. He runs from responsibility like it is a plague but will take it up if he needs to, to protect. He wants to sit in a rocking chair, feed fish, eat food and enjoy the small things in the world."

  Khaos leaned in close to Yue’s face.

  "Do you really think," Khaos sneered, "that a man like that wants six wives? Do you think he wants the headache of managing a harem of prodigies from your realm? On top of that, the oath is not meant to become his concubines.”

  Khaos paused for a bit. He was annoyed but he continued anyway to clear up some misunderstandings. “Your ancestor and his great grandfather were close friends. He didn’t want this oath but your ancestor insisted. It was meant to provide your clan protection for years to come and bring the clans closer, like their own relationship. Why do you think he chose some far off generation to tie the six to? It could have been one per generation or something else. Others can understand this, why can’t you?"

  Yue stared at him and was thinking about his words. It made sense, none of the others that were chosen through the generations of their clan had to do anything with the oath. Some of them even married in secret and went on with their lives as normal.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  She had thought they were defiant and wanted to control their own lives like she did. What she didn’t know was that all those secret marriages were blessed by both clans. Elders from both clans were there at the wedding and even presented gifts. Of course this was kept secret from most of the clan to prevent leaks to outsiders.

  The oath acted as an additional shield for the chosen prodigies. They didn’t have to marry in consideration for alliances. They were already ‘taken’ by the oath. Bound to the future generation from Li Yu’s mother’s clan.

  An oath can be verified through different means so it actually had to be in place. They couldn’t just lie and say there was one. In this way the prodigy was actually more free to live their life how they wanted. Even if it had to be done in secret. Khaos knew this.

  "If you had just gotten to know him first. Watch him from afar." Khaos said, "Then, when he is able to know the truth. You could have approached him and asked for the oath to be removed. Do you know what he would have done?"

  Khaos mimed a dismissive wave.

  "He would have released you before you finished your story. He wouldn’t be interested in such a thing."

  Yue’s face paled. "He... he would?"

  "He hates more responsibility and most of all complications." Khaos said. "And you. You are definitely a complication."

  "I... I didn't know," she whispered. "I thought that’s what most men wanted. Power, control and women.”

  "Do not insult him by projecting your worldly cynicism onto him," Khaos snapped. "And do not insult me by talking about duty. I have been protecting this child. You think you know confinement? You know nothing."

  Khaos was then looking down at the kneeling group.

  "You are all utter trash," Khaos pronounced. "Weak of will, short of sight and clumsy in action. Li Yu deserves better than you. You are not fit to follow him even if it is within the oath."

  He raised a hand. His fingers glowed with void energy.

  "You want out? Fine. I, VoidClaw, Guardian of the Heir, acting in his stead hereby judge you unworthy of this oath."

  He slashed his hand through the air.

  SNAP.

  A sound like a breaking string echoed through the souls of everyone present.

  Yue gasped. She felt a weight lift from her chest. A weight she had carried since birth. The invisible chain that connected her destiny to Li Yu’s mother's bloodline shattered. She felt lighter, untethered but also heavy and chaotic.

  "Free..." she whispered. "I am free..."

  "You are banished," Khaos corrected coldly.

  He looked at the five of them.

  "I have severed the bond. The oath that you felt was such a problem. Not because you deserve it but because I don't want your incompetence contaminating his future. Your ancestors will weep when they learn what you threw away today. But that is your and your ancestors' problem. Not mine."

  "Leave this realm. Immediately. Go back to your hole. And never, ever cross paths with Li Yu again."

  He pointed at Grandma Gui.

  "If I see you near him... if I even smell your scent in the same wind as him... I will not stop his soul next time. I will peel you apart myself, layer by layer, until you beg for the Fisherman's hook."

  "We obey!" Grandma Gui cried out. She then banged her head on the glassed sand. "We obey, Lord VoidClaw! We are leaving!"

  He waved his hand and the black darkness swallowed them. A moment later, the pocket dimension was empty.

  Khaos stood alone in the white void. He sighed and was rubbing his temples. “Things are getting more chaotic and turbulent. The coming era will be full of dangers… Well, one thing at a time.

  He faded away and the world collapsed soon after. In the real world, the sun began to rise over the Iron-Web Gorge.

  Li Yu continued to sleep on. He was now drooling slightly on Tekton’s head. He was blissfully unaware that he had just been dumped by a woman he didn't even know was bound to him just moments ago.

  And somewhere, far away, a group of travelers scrambled through a portal. They were fleeing as if the devil himself was snapping at their heels. They didn’t know that they had actually lost the freedom they wanted so badly.