Princess Yin, radiant Yin, puts her hand to her forehead in a sign of exhausted exasperation.

"Princess Chen," she said. "I have crossed this entire kingdom, fighting demons and river-monsters, enduring betrayal and rejection, to do [i]you[/i] a favour. I have tried to offer you a hand of peace and alliance. I have put," her voice drops into a hiss for a moment - just a moment, "[b]myself[/b] out there only for you to -!"

She cuts her words short and looks away. There might be tears in her eyes. Her hands are trembling with emotion and the light around her is broken so harshly you could cut yourself on it.

"I have," she said, collecting herself a bit, wiping at her eyes with a sleeve. "Done my best. For everyone. I have done my best to be a loyal vassal, a loyal lover, a loyal mistress, a loyal friend. And time after time [i]this[/i] is what I get in return. I get spat upon. I get treated like a -" she bit the words back and let her brow darken. "Fine. [i]Fine[/i]. You hate me too, I understand. What I have to do I will simply have to do on my own, that is all."

She waved her hand, and in an eyeblink her radiant light went out, plunging the forest into total darkness. By the time eyes adjusted to the loss of her, she had taken her enchanted deer and ridden far away.