Part 3, Chapter 5

Waking up

Ch 5

Xun woke up alone. Her eyes sore and her throat scratchy from crying. She stretched and dressed slowly, looking around for Jianyu. It was still strange to think of him with that name. When she had searched the entire courtyard and found no one, not even a servant, she began to feel uneasy. She didn’t want to be alone right now. Deciding that the main courtyard was the most likely place to find other people she headed down the corridor.

She had been right. The entrance into the main hall was crowded with people. Mostly soldiers, but a few servants and lesser gods milled about as well. Xun was determined not to be left out, she needed a distraction about now. She pushed her way through the throng of people, craning her neck and poking at people to make them move.

At the center of the crowd stood the Lord of Storms.  Battered and missing his right hand he still stood with his back straight and his face impassive. Xun stared and stared. Without warning her head began to ache and she remembered the night of the spell. He had been there. She had seen him. He hadn’t been alone however, she remembered seeing four people that night, but their faces and presences were as insubstantial as the Lord of Storms had been before she had seen him today. 

She tried to struggle back out through the packed bodies, but it was hard to push against the direction of the crowd. Suddenly a space opened and she felt a hand on her shoulder. The God of War loomed above her, looking a little pensive. “What brings you here, little… Xun,” he caught himself as he addressed her. Ever since Jianyu had arrived he had never used her nickname again. 

A lump formed in her throat, talking to Leng Zai, even if he was really the Emperor was one thing, but speaking to the God of War was harder. Even though she knew the need for secrecy was over, years of ingrained behavior was hard to ignore. She focused on the small embroidered dragon beside the opening of his robe and spoke to it instead. “I need to see the Emperor. Do you know where he is?”

“Your husband,” the God of War corrected gently, “went to see Renping this morning. They should still be talking in her room, as far as I know, niece-in-law.”

She looked at him sharply.

He laughed, “You did marry my nephew. Try not to look so alarmed.”

Xun swallowed hard, bowed formally, and fled in search of Jianyu.