Chapter 16

Xiao Hong watched the scenery while resting on a branch. Pink petals fell peacefully to the ground, ignorant of the fire-scorched earth beneath. They covered the ash in a lovely lie. Looking away, she took a clean cloth and wiped the blood from her blade.


What would the old phoenix think of such a thing had he lived to see this? Xiao Hong wondered. Perhaps an early calamity is a gift.


No... She quietly scolded her own thoughts. Her favorite uncle had never been the same after. Lost in grief and guilt, he only left his den to walk the fields here, wine jug in hand. His eyes always seemed to be searching, like he was waiting for his phoenix to rise back from the ashes.


Well, the ashes here were cold and still. If the old phoenix was returning, he was taking his sweet time. Maybe he was waiting for the day his back stock of wine finally ran dry.


"Princess, have you any wine to share this fine morning?"


"Not with you," she cooly answered without a glance at the wild-haired god who had appeared at the foot of her favorite tree. "You shouldn't be here. Leave."


Ignoring her warning, Wenchang leapt up to stand on a branch beside hers. She glared up at him, hoping to deter him from getting comfortable. He didn't look at her. Instead, his stormy eyes watched the falling petals. A stray flower drifted with the breeze which he lazily caught in his palm.


Crushing the bloom in his hand, he sighed. "Qi Yan would be broken-hearted seeing his forest burn like this."


"Did you know him well?"


He glanced in surprise for a moment before laughing, "I always forget, you're so young..." The laughter left his eyes. Maybe it was never there to begin with. "The old phoenix and I were old schoolmates. Used to get in all sorts of trouble; drove my righteous brother mad."


Xiao Hong almost smiled at the thought, "I'm not surprised. You seem like someone who causes trouble."


"Me? Only on special occasions." He winked and she snorted.


"What's the special occasion today?"


Sitting on the branch, his feet swinging, Wenchang Dijun said, "I may have found an answer to this problem of peace."


Xiao Hong's branch shook as she sat up.


"I thought you said it isn't possible."


"I said it isn't simple. This war has gone on so long it's become a war for war's sake. My people won't accept peace even if I order it. I'm sure your people are the same. It would be like admitting a loss, and nobody wants to bow first." He looks at her, hesitant. "But... we could bow together."


Her brows crinkled in confusion, "I don't understand. How could we convince our people to do such a thing when they refuse to consider any talks of peace?"


"I'm suggesting a treaty through marriage."


"Impossible." Xiao Hong answered quickly, shaking her head. "Gugu would never agree to marriage. Especially not to you."


There was a lengthy silence, which was strange considering how much Wenchang enjoyed hearing himself speak. When she glanced up at him, he was staring at her, flabbergasted.


"What?" She asked, not understanding his confusion. "It's true. She holds more hate for your heaven clan than even my father. You should know more than anyone about the rivalry between her and your brother."


Wenchang, rubbing the bridge of his nose, mumbled, "I thought before you were quite clever. How are you this dense?"


Xiao Hong scoffed in offense, "I was simply stating the obvious, no need to be rude. Not just anyone can marry my favorite aunt. She is the number one beauty in all the realms, after all, so don't let it hurt your feelings."


"My feelings?" He wheezed, and she realized he was laughing at her, though she did not get the joke, "They are certainly hurt, but not for the reasons you've imagined."


She glared at him, arms crossed. His laughter turned to stifled hiccups until finally he took a deep breath. Leaning towards her, his face was suddenly quite serious.


"My dear princess," his voice lowered an octave as he tilted her chin with a gentle hand. "When did I ever mention your aunt in this talk of marriage?"


But if his marriage candidate wasn't her aunt, who else could it be?


The question sank in for one second. And then another.


Three whole seconds passed before the answer fully dawned upon her.


Stunned, Xiao Hong fell out of her tree. A strangled noise, somewhere between a yelp, a stutter and a hiccup, escaped her lips as she tumbled to the ground.


Laying on her back in a pile of ashes and peach petals, Xiao Hong wondered if she had fallen asleep and this was all just a strange dream. It couldn't be real, afterall. The great and horrible Wenchang Dijun could not be cheerfully asking for her hand in marriage. It simply had to be some freak vision.


He landed gracefully by her side, grinning more happily than she'd ever seen before. Her denial turned quickly to rage. She wasn't even sure where to place this anger—with him, the enemy emperor who insisted on charming his way by her side, or with herself, who allowed the enemy emperor to do so.


Listening to his stifled laughter, Xiao Hong decided to place her anger with him.


"Have you fallen for me so easily?"


Oh, she could definitely be angry at him.


Covering her reddening face in her hands, she growled, "I don't think I can speak to you right now."


"Aww, Xiao Hong, don't be angry." The obvious smirk in his voice made her seethe. "You can blame the branch if you wish. I won't tell how you fell for me."


She sat up, fangs bared and tails ruffled.


"Y-you shameless, arrogant, infuriating I ought to gut you and throw you to the fishes!"


He bowed his head dramatically, "My dear Xiao Hong, please have mercy on your future husband."


"Husband—" She wheezed, "Who's husband? I would never in a million years—"


"What about a million and one?"


Xiao Hong sniffled, "Not even then."


Wenchang's voice turned soft, "Does it really sound so bad?"


It doesn't.


"How can it not?"


She flopped back on the petal-covered ground with a groan. Her anger expired, she finally took a moment to consider his proposition. Compared to this never-ending cycle of war, marriage was a small price to pay. She tried to picture it; her as his wife, him as her husband. It should have been a revolting image, but instead it only made her already floundering image of him falter more. Somehow these past few days, he had become less and less a monster she was supposed to hate and more and more a person with whom she could empathize.


In his dissonant laughter was a disconnect, a cold indifference born from the static nature of this endless strife. She felt that same emptiness tugging away at her soul with every life she took and with every soul she failed to save. The hollowness of it scared her long before she knew him, the fear that someday she would not blink twice at the sight of death.


Maybe that was why she felt a strange kinship with him despite everything else.


Maybe that was why taking his hand did not scare her as she believed it should.


"Do you really think..." She sighed, "Is it possible? Can we actually change anything?"


"I don't know. Nothing is guaranteed." Wenchang admitted, his smile turning bitter, "It wouldn't be the first time such an arrangement failed."


Xiao Hong blinked in surprise. As far as she knew, the heaven clan had never offered any olive branch to the other factions. Afterall, wasn't the lightning emperor known for his love of war? But the man in front of her was not the heartless person she'd been taught he was. It made her wonder what else the history books had neglected to mention.


"What happened?" She asked.


"I was engaged once. To the late princess of the demon clan." He spoke hesitantly, like these were old wounds he was opening up. "She was... someone I doted on like a little sister. Her father was my mentor before the war broke out. When conflict began escalating between our clans, my old shifu offered the solution. Li Meng's hand in marriage. She was in love with another, but for the good of her clan, she agreed. It could have been a peaceful enough marriage, despite the circumstances, but it never came to be."


Xiao Hong empathized with this princess of the past. She would do anything for her people, but sacrificing one's own happiness is never easy.


"Did she elope in the end?"


"No, though I wish she had. Li Meng was assassinated during her wedding procession along with her beloved guard. Her father blamed me for allowing such a thing to happen, and, in a way, it was my fault." He gazed mournfully at the ground, "I failed to protect her, and the war between the heaven and demon clans resurged bloodier than before. She became an unwilling martyr, just as her murderers intended."


His words hung heavy around them. This proposal was a gamble, she realized. Giving Wenchang Dijun her hand, her fate, promised nothing except a chance to change everything.


Did Li Meng regret it in the end?


Did she wish she had taken the hand of her beloved guard and run away from the burden of her responsibilities?


She couldn't ask a ghost such questions, and it didn't matter what the dead's answer was anyway. Xiao Hong had already made up her mind.


A chance is better than nothing.


And anyway, there is no beloved guard for me to elope with.


There is no fairer fate I am giving up here... In fact, it's quite the opposite. Isn't it?


Her palm fit neatly in his, as though it had always belonged there. He looked steadily back at her, his stormy irises reflecting her own vulnerable heart.


"Are you taking my hand to reject me?" He joked with a sorrowful smile.


She returned his smile, her decision reaffirmed by his gentle gaze. She could learn to love this man. Hadn't she already been falling in spite of herself?


"That might be for the best, though it'd be a shame... " She ran her thumb absentmindedly around his palm. "It's such a warm hand."


Wenchang ears turned red as he scoffed and shook his head, "These hands belong to someone like me. They're stained with the lifeblood of a thousand immortals. How could they possibly be warm?"


"I don't know, but somehow they still are." Xiao Hong let her grin turn foxy as she brought his hand to her lips. "Maybe because they are holding my heart."


He blinked once and then twice as her words settled like the falling peach petals.


"You mean?"


Xiao Hong chuckled softly, "A fox does not hand over her heart lightly, Dijun. Do treat it with care."


Wenchang threw his arms around her as he let out an airy laugh. She hadn't realized how he trembled until he was holding her.


"Were you so scared of rejection?" She teased him to cover her own floundering emotions.


He held her closer, his breath tickling the hair on her neck.


"I was more scared than I have ever been. I'd rather face a thousand calamities than your hatred."


"Careful, Dijun." Her face heated at his confession, and she struggled to keep her words steady. "It... It almost sounds like you love me."


He chuckled as he pulled away. Tucking her loose hair behind her ear, he unwaveringly met her eyes.


"My Xiao Hong seems to be a little dense today."


Her cheeks puffed out in offense, "Who's dense? This princess just does not remember hearing you say the words."


"My apologies, princess. Let me settle your heart."


His lips brushed the tip of her nose.


"I"


They pressed against the curve of her jaw.


"Love"


He caressed her blushing cheeks, his mouth hovered over hers.


"You."


When his lips finally captured hers, she forgot to breathe. His arm caught the curve of her back as she leaned into the kiss. A cloud of petals and ash swirled around as he pulled her with him.


Finally remembering to breathe, she pulled away. He stared up at her, stormy eyes star struck, and leaned in for another kiss. Hand almost moving on its own, she quickly covered his mouth. 


One breath, then two.


He snickered softly against her palm as she tried to regain her senses.


On the third breath, her thoughts finally recovered.


"How are we going to convince my father?" She asked, the color leaving her face.


He was not as concerned as she thought he should be. Peppering kisses on her hand and wrist until her face shone red once more, he took his time before answering.


"You're his only daughter whom he dotes on without withstraint. As long as he believes you've fallen for me, he'll allow it since he wants your happiness."


She nodded, her mind still somewhat blank.


"Yes... that should work..." Xiao Hong murmured before shaking her head, "Wait, how do we even convince him of that? As far as he knows, I've only met you once when I snuck out to the battlefield. Oh, he'll be so furious, I'll be lucky if he ever lets me leave the den again!"


Wenchang smoothed the crease of her forehead, "Don't worry Xiao Hong. We'll convince him."


"How?"


His eyes flitted to the side before he smirked back at her, "It'll be easy enough, with the help of a benefactor."


"What? Who-"


Her words were cut off by his kiss. His lips crashed into hers, stealing away her breath for a second time. She blinked, and he was gone, a swirl of petals and ash where he had been.


A branch snapped. She turned towards the sound to see her favorite uncle standing there, mouth agape, wine bottle in hand.


Oh, what a sight her favorite uncle had walked into!


That damned Dijun, She thought, her fingers tracing her bruised lips. Oh, I'll bet he's having a fun laugh right now!


"Xiao Xiao... What... Who was- Did I just-"


Ignoring her uncle's incoherent ramblings, she stole the wine from his limp grip.


"Uncle, I do hope you've brought the good wine." Xiao Hong said, tossing back her tousled russet tresses. "We'll be needing it."

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