Chapter Seventy Six - Broken Jade

After an afternoon of jelly babies and coffee, I've made a couple of chapters and a bit so I can fulfil the request of a double update! Praise me!

"Who are you?"

The woman beside him was as unclothed as he, her full figure hidden by the shared blanket but leaving little to the imagination.  She yawned like a small kitten and glanced at him through dew drenched eyes.  Blinking away the soft mist, her eyes suddenly widened revealing a beautiful deep green and dark pupils, one with its own moon.  She suddenly leapt from the bed, without thought to the cold causing her dark skin to turn to gooseflesh and knelt before him in bow.  "Your highness!" She exclaimed.

He uncomfortably looked away.  "Please show a little dignity," he requested.  He did not see her blush, but listened as rustling cloth indicating that she was dressing herself.  He waited until he heard no more and glanced back at her, noting that she had returned to prostrating before him once clothed.  "Now please answer my question.  Who are you?"

"I am a maid within the Imperial Palace," she replied.  He looked at her carefully.  She did seem to have a face he knew, but then he could not recall her working within his Palace.

"What am I doing here?" He asked.  From the crudeness of the building, he could only assume that it was a small shelter somewhere.  He could hear no dragon soaring, no tiger leaping so he believed they could not be in the Capital.

"You were drugged by the Emperor," she whispered the last words as if she feared retribution.  "I tried to stop him! But... Your guard said to take care of you!  I took you away."  He noticed that the woman had a slight accent.  Did she come from the Heartlands?  If so why was she working as a maid in the Palace?

"Why take me away from the Palace?"

"The Emperor was stirring, even though the guard put him to sleep," she replied and shook her head.  "I am just a lowly maid, I wouldn't be able to stop the Emperor if he decided to take revenge, so it's best to hide."

The Prince shuddered and he had to swallow the bile rising in his throat.  "Then why am I naked?"

The woman's cheeks turned rosey.  "Aphrodisiac," she whispered.  Yu Long felt his blood run cold and questioned her words.  She repeated herself clearly and Yu Long couldn't help but think back to the wine that his... that man had poured him and the disgusting incense heavy in the air.  That was all he could recall before darkness had clouded his mind.  But though he remembered the horrible touches, the thick lust in that man's eyes, the sense of oppression, he didn't have any memory of his own body participating in bedroom activities.  Had he? With this woman? His mind felt dizzy as he wrapped the rough bed sheet about his waist.

"Where are my clothes?" he demanded, his voice a little broken.  Her eyes were drawn to a small stool where there was a folded red robe that was suggestive and sheer.  He made an odd sound, before suppressing the feelings threatening to overwhelm him, instead, he grabbed the cloak hanging upon a nail by the door.

As he threw it over his shoulders and tore open the door, the woman called after him; "Please, it's not your highness's fault!"  He coldly ignored her and took to the surrounding grasslands with a rapid pace.  Horses were tethered outside, but he paid them no heed as he walked without thought.  When he came to the rushing river, he understood a little about where he was, but that did not mean that he headed towards the Capital.  Instead, he stripped off both sheet and cloak and instead walked into the cold waters.

He stood within the river against the current that somehow could not move him for sometime before he began to scoop the water into his palm and rinse his body.  It wasn't enough! He moved to the river edge, tore a strip of the blanket and soaked it before he used it to scrub himself.  The white skin began to redden, even drawing blood in one place upon his shoulder.  So immersed in his cleansing, he did not notice the approach of people.

"What are you doing?"

Yu Long looked up and saw the one person he always longed for, yet did not wish to see in that moment.  Why would he?  He was responsible for protecting that person throughout their lifetimes, he could not reveal weakness!  He stared at that person, he did not notice the people with him discreetly keeping a respectable distance.  A small smile appeared upon his lips, but did not reach his eyes.

"Just a bath," Yu Long said.

Xiang Ah Liû raised a lone brow and looked at the man's raw skin.  "Not just a bath," he said in refute.

"Of course it is, what else could it be," Yu Long replied, the cloth brushing against the self made wounds making him wince.  Xiang Ah Liû shrugged off his outer robe and slipped into the cold water beside him. He wrapped his fingers around Yu Long's hands, taking the scrap of cloth from them and tossing it onto the bank. Yu Long's head hung low, his eyes only seeing their entwined hands and neither spoke for several minutes. A splash of water that did not come from the rushing waters fell upon Ah Liû's warm hands and Yu Long came to realise how cold he was. His body began to shake, his calm form crumbled and the flow of water from his eyes became uncontrollable. Ah Liû gathered his tall husband into his embrace, the man did not fight this, instead burying his head into the warm neck and wrapping his arms about his waist. "How am I supposed to protect you if I cannot protect myself?"

"What protection do I need?" Ah Liû reasoned. "I have Temple Guards for that thing. I have worshippers if I want to be praised. I have officials if I want to be flattered and lied to. The title 'Guardian' is just an affection. I don't need you for protection. I need you for you. Ah, but you can't cheat me though."

"But what if I've already failed you?" He whispered into the other person's hair. He felt the Living God stiffen in his arms before pulling away. Yu Long wanted to tighten his grip, but did not feel qualified to. This was the first time he felt he had betrayed his lover. In fact, he had not been intimate with anyone but this person for many lifetimes, not since being Matthew had he fooled around and that was due to ignorance of self. Even Rush had been true as that man had been as hard to get along despite the face and fame! Kez had actually been his first! But just as he felt himself give his lover up, he felt the grasp of those warm hands holding his and tug him to the waters edge.

"We will talk," Xiang Ah Liû said. "But not in the river, you will freeze first!" An assortment of clothing was brought over to be worn, though much was ill fitting, it was better than being naked and cold. They sat apart from the other men as Yu Long quietly explained what had happened. Xiang Ah Liû could not claim that there was not a slight ache in his heart, but he could not place blame upon Yu Long either. This person had not become intoxicated by choice and made clouds and rain and to nearly be raped by his own father made him pitiful enough. So Ah Liû forgave this husband of his without further thought.

"What will you do now?" Xiang Ah Liû asked. "Will you return to the Imperial Palace or come home with me?"

Home... the word lifted a thousand worries from his shoulder and wrapped him in a sense of peace. He did not feel completely healed, but healing had definitely begun. He would be healed, if he stayed with this man. But... "I do not wish to return there," he shuddered. The Emperor was still there after all. "But, I need to speak with my brother before I do anything. He is probably worried."

"You are very close to him," Ah Liû observed.

"It has been us against the world for many years," Yu Long admitted.

"You have not ever fought for the right to be next upon the Dragon throne?" Ah Liû asked. His own court was not without its power struggles. Though his was not a blood inherited position, there would always be those who sought to place their own relatives in his seat through his death.

Yu Long shook his head. "At first there was already a crown Prince and then..." he shrugged, he knew being Emperor would strictly have curbed his search for his lover. There had never been a time he had considered being heir. "I have you, why would I give you up for something trivial like a throne?" Xiang Ah Liû threw his head back and laughed. Yu Long smiled, heart truly lifted before adding; "Will you still be alright with me?"

"There will never be anyone else," Xiang Ah Liû told him, holding the slender, white hands in his slightly smaller ones. Yu Long rested his forehead upon the other man's shoulder, no longer fearing revealing his weak side. These two were always one.

"Your Highness!" A woman's cry disturbed the pink air about them as both looked up to see the maid being prevented from approaching them by their guards and soldiers.

.

Xiang Ah Liû blinked a few times, his eyes widening in recognition, even as Yu Long's face paled. "Hah? Is that not the Temple Maid who tried to poison me?"

Translations;

no dragon soaring, no tiger leaping adaptation of a saying, means the scene is not bustling/busy

red robe that was suggestive and sheer I have read in other Chinese/style stories that a bride many wear a red robe for her wedding night? If I have this wrong, assume it is a custom in this world instead hee hee.