Fengye does her best to keep her water from spilling as she raises it to her lips. She is a humble scribe. She drinks only water and eats only rice. She does not race the wind on unbroken legs and she desires nothing as all rewards will inevitably come to her following long lives of virtue. She is beneath notice and she has hardly spilled [i]any[/i] water upon herself. 

Instead it is time for a more thoughtful calculation. This ground is familiar - averting the wroth of a Princess of the Earth whose ire has been raised by an unwelcome truth. An entire branch of her education was turned towards such a thing - it was named etiquette, but its meaning was self preservation. The Red Wolf's temper is unlikely to burn long - she has great matters to tend to, and fairer maidens to torment. Retribution may be coming but it can be sidestepped.

But should it? Here a dark thrill runs through her, an edge of heady daring. She is no mere scribe, not any longer. She has an arsenal of hidden techniques. She has spells of deception, of summoning, of control - [i]Serenity is Control[/i]. And she still has an agenda to work. Stars flash on the inside of her eyes like sparks and she can feel the weight of fate on her shoulders - and knows that instead it could be in her palm.

Now she struggles again with her water - this time it is not to keep her hands from trembling, but to keep the glass from cracking. She sets it down with a delicacy that belies the pounding in her head at the idea that [i]she[/i] just deceived a Princess of the Earth. She could do so again.

She sits and waits. There are so many other things she could use this power on than mere [i]escape[/i].