Borders

It was a difficult task for Ki to achieve but it was not completely hopeless when certain things were taking place at the right time.

There was no longer the Divine Ice Sect to play the role of the boundary line between the two lands and a new sect took its place.

It was under the control of Ki who had the sect master and many elders under the influence of her blood gu so it was less likely for another war to break out at the border and there were some that could be allowed to pass through the border after being inspected.

There was always exceptions to the border control which allowed smaller groups to travel between lands and migrate over but there was a limit to how often it could happen and larger groups would be checked before crossing over.

Travellers or traders would use that to travel between two lands and establish their own form of trade through the borders by transporting their own lands goods to another land then returning with the goods from the other land.

It helped to establish some form of exchange between the lands and helped some people integrate with the other lands but there was a limit to how many could pass through all at once and to what they could bring through the borders.

If they were found to be passing through with hostile intent or their numbers had become too high then they would be sent back unless they had established themselves as trusted people who passed through regularly.

It was primarily to prevent too many people from other lands moving into their lands and to prevent further pillaging and wars but it was to let those living in those lands feel more at ease towards the outsiders not outnumbering them and having the possibility of taking over their livelihoods.

If there were problems then the lands they came from would be held responsible and would be suspected of sending those people to cause trouble.

Those involved would be killed and any that tried to cross the borders would be turned away while the sects and those from the capital dealt with the problems around the central lands.

The northerners were not completely cut off from the central lands and would have come to learn some things throughout the many years of that happening.

They were not completely ignorant of the outside world but they still held a lot of pride and belonging towards their ancestry and home land so not everyone was so willing to learn from those travellers or the others that chose to leave their lands.

Those that did investigate into those people had more of an advantage over the others and were able to judge Ki more clearly.

Ki had already established a connection to many of those traders so she already had enough information to enter their capital without being unprepared.

Through the years, there would be some that would have taken notice of the Bombyx families involvement with those people and would have been using the products that had passed through the borders.

Some that were more active towards the ongoing situation would have investigated further and would have come to learn more about the Bombyx family.

Ki had helped to establish a better image of her family towards the northern nobles and it depended on what their response would be.

Each family had their own difficulties, ambitions or had their own rivalries or enemies so she was waiting to see who would be the first to approach and with what intentions they would approach with.

Their intentions were quite obvious to see when not every one of them could conceal their emotions and were more outspoken so she could identify who was against her family, who were waiting to see how things played out and who held interest towards her or her family.

The Bombyx family were not the first family outside of the northern lands to try to integrate or establish some kind of bond with them but those before did not perform so well and offended many due to their careless words or actions.

Ki had learned about their culture and had shown respect towards it while trying to show a little of her own which was something others before her had not done.

Her families involvement in removing a troublesome influence in their other city had spread to the capital too so they came to realise that the Bombyx family was not completely unreasonable and would not side with their own people when they were in the wrong.

Once Ki was back surrounded by her family and close associates, Elizabeth showed a proud smile towards her daughter. "You were very brave to speak to everyone up there. If it was me back when I made my debut then I might have not been able to do it."

Ki nodded in response. "It was a little difficult at first but I managed."

Ki had gotten over some of her difficulties speaking in front of big crowds and having contact with others to a certain degree but that did not mean that she was able to do what she did without help or practice.

If it was her previous self then she would have put up a front to protect herself which would have created a wall between herself and those watching or listening.

The many eyes on her and the many intimidating presences around did add to the difficulty of her making the speech and performance without making a mistake or being intimidated.

The only time that she ever had so many eyes on her in her previous life was when she was being chased or fought against by many people seeking to claim her life or at the very end of it when she had her final confrontation with those sent by the Martial Alliance.

The rest of the time was spent on her own doing tasks for the Blood Sect or travelling to other lands but she rarely had to use words to establish connections and she usually won them over through her actions and good will towards them.

Adam stepped over and grinned while swirling his wine glass. "My little Ki has been holding out on daddy again.. hic!"

Ki turned to signal her mother with her eyes 'I cannot have father and his love for drinking cause a scene right now.'

Elizabeth understood her daughter well and dragged Adam by his arm to the side to sober up a little. 'I should have known he would do this. I should have kept a better eye on him. He is so sneaky when it comes to drinking…'

Just as Adam was being dragged away by Elizabeth, a chance presented itself for others and someone stepped forward towards Ki.

A large man with white hair and icy blue eyes gazed towards Lumi and Rayleigh by the side of Ki then turned his attention to Ki.

His big body towered over Ki who was much smaller and slimmer than him.

His overall presence was very intimidating almost like he was an arctic wolf eyeing its prey. "I have heard a little about you heir of the Bombyx family but may I ask who this is? I am sure many others are curious too about her identity and why she is by your side."