Ninth Lie

Prologue: Tears of Blood

The candlelight cast flickering shadows that dance across the walls adorned with scarlet silks. A steady rhythmic court ritual meant to celebrate and witness our marriage, the flames illuminated the darkness that had haunted me for so long.

For as long as eternity, I had rested as still as stone in the chambers of the Heaven Mother, listening to the lullabies of the winds and feeding on the elixir of life. To be exact, I was once lifeless. Even after I had evolved into an animal form, I had no heart. He was the one who had given me true life, teaching me the joy of laughter and the beauty of love. Without him, I would still be that nine-tailed fox carved from a piece of heavenly ice, a statue forever frozen in time.

For him, I have no fear. Even next to a flaring flame that could cost me my so-called life, I worry not. After all, without him, my heart no longer has a reason to beat. I may look like a human now, but hidden under this ceremonial red gown, my nine tails protest against the heat. But I must not let my animal instincts take over. From the minute I stepped into this bridal chamber, I was no longer a fox, but a wife. For him, I risk my life. For he is my life.

Beads of coral wax drip down the sides of the candles, mirroring the beads of water in the palm of my hands. A pair of candles, I remind myself—a pair—meant to symbolize how we are now bound for not only life and death but the lives and deaths that follow this one as well. The heat... the flames... why does the color of marriage have to be such a sickening shade of red...?

"QianYou..." The door creaks open with a protest, and he lumbers in, the scent of alcohol polluting the air. Only that he never drank before. He knew too well that alcohol is the fuel for fire. But the scent of the vile liquid is all too clear, especially for an animal who relies on her sense of smell to survive the harsh world.

Like a burning haze, the scent sweeps across the room in a fury as he stumbles closer and closer. Before I knew it, a gust of hot breath drew tingling sensations on my face, and the outline of a familiar figure became apparent even through my veil.

In one swift motion, he pressed both of my hands to his cheeks. And my icy hands became enveloped by warmness. If this is the temperature of love, I am willing to melt for it. For a moment, my heart fluttered, lost in the heat of his body... and the trail of liquid coursing down his face. 

"QianYou, will you ever hate me?" his voice, hoarse from alcohol rasped out. But before I could reply, he sealed my lips shut with a desperate kiss, his temperature burning through the veil. "If this is the last time you will ever love me, please, show me your tails once more." And so I did.

In the room of candlelight, I released my tails from the restrictions of the gown. And indeed, they outshone all the lights, nine jewels of eternal ice polished by the Heaven Mother herself. But the next moment, the candlelight lit the soft fur into a sea of flames. And the eternal ice melted into a puddle of blood.

I screamed. My vision blurred with tears. The world became distorted through the veil of blood red. All I could see was the candle that he held. The candle that had lit my tails. The cause of my burning pain. And that man who I had once promised to love for eternity had just taken away my life. So my wedding night became my deathbed. 

The wax dripping down the side of the scarlet candles are their tears.