Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this fic unless I specifically state in an author's note that they are an original character. They belong to KOEI games.
Author's Note: I've read a lot of Zhou Yu and Xiao Qiao fan fictions, as well as a couple with Sun Ce and Da Qiao. I'm not sure if I'll do as well as others have, but I'm going to give it a try because the muses say I have to. I am not following the book to write this fic, and I am not following the game, at least not past the part of Xiao and Da being in arranged marriages with Sun Ce and Zhou Yu. So, in most ways, this is an AU fic, because the events and settings are of my own devising. So I'm forewarning anyone who wants to flame because I'm not historically accurate, your critique will be ignored, because this story was not written to follow the way the book says things went. Also, if the attitudes of these characters seem different from the way the book or the movie portray them, be assured it was done on purpose and there is no need for you to correct me, as that will be ignored too. Well, enough of my rambling, on to the story.
Chapter 1Xiao Qiao sighed to herself as she watched the trees and land go by through the carriage window, taking her farther and farther from everything she'd ever known. She still didn't understand why her parents thought it would be best for her and her sister to be wed to the two men from Wu. Wait, she did know, and the thought brought a wry smile to her pretty lips. They wanted to be tied to the Wu Lord and his family, and so they had used their daughters to gain the support of the Kingdom through their marriages to the lord's eldest son, Sun Ce, and his sworn brother, Zhou Yu.
Xiao sneaked a glance at her sister sitting in the seat across from hers, and then realized no sneaking was needed. Da was off in her own dream world, gazing out at gods only knew what and thinking about what was to come. Her sister had had the privilege of meeting her betrothed the week before when Xiao had unfortunately (intentionally, rather) been away at market with a friend. She sighed audibly when she remembered that. Her friends … she'd never see any of them again, and the only girl close to their age in castle Wu was SunXiang, Sun Ce's younger sister. But Xiao had heard rumors that Xiang looked down on most women, thinking lesser of the ones who didn't fight in battles like she did. She was snapped out of her musings by her sister's quiet voice.
"What's bothering you, Sis?"
"You know what is so why ask?"
Da sighed softly at her sister's admission. Didn't Xiao see that it was the best thing for them? At least they were being married to good, noble men that would never hurt them. It could be worse; they could be some fat, ugly bald men that just wanted to rape a pretty young girl. She voiced these thoughts to her sister and got a sharp peal of laughter from the younger Qiao.
"Are you kidding me?! How in the hell do you know these guys are different? Do we know them? No. Do we know what they're like? NO! All we know is what they do on the battlefield, because that's the ONLY thing that gets talked about. They could be masochists or wife beaters or GAY for all we know! I will not trust them like you and I WILL NOT LIKE THEM!" The last bit was said in an almost shout, abruptly silencing the older Qiao, who didn't want to argue with her sister.
Xiao had one of the worst tempers, and she wasn't afraid to buck up to anyone in authority, and religiously did just that on a regular basis. Her attitude totally belied what her beauty made one think about her nature. Both sisters were exceptionally beautiful, and envied by many women around the kingdom. Their nature made people like them instantly, and they had many friends. Until Xiao lost her temper, that is … then people got out of the way fast.
But Xiao's temper quickly faded as she started watching out the carriage window again in an effort to keep from yelling at her sister more, and was replaced by a deep emptiness. She didn't really mind being away from where she grew up. Their parents were the strict type that punished for some of the stupidest things. Needless to say, Xiao was punished a LOT, so she didn't miss that. But away from home and the friends she did have that liked her for who she was … she felt very alone. Even with her sister here she did, because their closeness would soon be split as Da got to know her husband better, because it was obvious she was smitten and would indeed try to do so. Xiao wished she could be like her sister at times like this; so carefree, so unaffected, and so optimistic about everything. But she couldn't be like her sister, so she sat there as the carriage drew her closer to her fate, cursing the gods for being so cruel as to put her in this situation.
Zhou Yu rubbed his eyes as he got up from his desk and went out of his room and towards Sun Jian's office, where he and his sworn brother, Sun Ce, had been called to speak with the man before their 'intended' arrived. He still didn't know why he had agreed to this, but he knew, really. He did it because his lord asked him to. He was very seriously considering retracting his acceptance as he made his way down the hall and entered the office. But then he realized he wouldn't go against his lord. He was too loyal for one, and he didn't have the heart to tell Lord Jian no for another. So, he would go through with the marriage, then retreat back to his rooms and training. He almost rolled his eyes when he met Sun Ce's silly grin. His brother had been to the home of their soon to be wives the week before, and he'd has that silly look ever since. At least one of us will benefit from this he thought to himself. He knew he wouldn't.
"Still sore over what's happening today, Bro?" The tone was one of brotherly teasing, but Zhou Yu wasn't in the mood for games today.
"What's happening is we are marrying a couple of girls we don't even know. Doesn't that concern you a little bit? We know nothing of their character. They could be the town whores and we'd never know it till it was too late and they showed their true colors on our wedding night." Zhou Yu kept his voice amazingly calm considering the emotions blowing through his mind. He couldn't believe he'd agreed to this, and listening to himself point all these things out only made him regret it more.
"Ah come on, you know better. I saw Da myself last week. Picture of innocence. Couldn't even look me in the face without blushing." His brother had that dreamy look in his eyes as he said these things, churning Zhou's stomach.
"Any tavern wench can be the picture of innocence in the right outfit, Sun Ce, but she is still a tavern wench."
"That's enough, the both of you." The tone in Sun Jian's voice allowed no arguments as he started sternly at the two boys from behind his desk. "First of all, the girls ARE innocence itself. Neither have had any contact with the male gender aside from family members and any male merchants they happen to buy goods from. Their parents are very, and I do mean VERY, strict about this issue. So it's not a possibility. Secondly, there is no sense assuming they are going to come willingly into your beds. Yes, it would be their duty once wed to consummate their marriage with you, but neither of you are to force yourselves on the girls. We are bringing them into a peaceful environment where they can feel safe."
"Oh, I'll not force myself on anyone. She can have her own damned rooms for all I care, milord. I've no desire to bed my wife, I just want to get this over with and go back to my normal routine." The statement came from Zhou Yu, whose jaw had set into its own firm line.
"Then stop your bickering at each other about it, anyone listening would think you two were the ones married." This was said in a lighter tone, Jian trying to get Zhou to lighten up and his son to stop his teasing.
He was so much like his mother, cutting up to make everyone laugh. And the boys did love each other like brothers, Sun Ce just knew what buttons would really piss off Zhou Yu and used them as often as possible because the other claimed to be 'calm as a dead sea' and Sun Ce liked making him eat his words. That couldn't happen in this case, though. Zhou Yu didn't need to go into this mad. His wife would suffer and the girl didn't deserve that because of his personal prerogatives. It was with this in mind that he decided to tell the boys his real reason for wedding them to the girls.
"There are powerful lords … dangerous lords, wanting to take these girls because of their beauty, boys. Dong Zhuo has made statements about adding them to his harem and CaoCao wishes to turn them into his personal sex slaves." His words hit home hard it seemed by the looks on the boys' faces.
"They wouldn't! No, never mind, they would … no woman deserves treatment like that." Surprisingly, this statement came from Zhou Yu.
"I know they don't, and I know you boys are honorable and wouldn't force yourselves on the girls, so I agreed to go into this like this because it was the only way to keep the girls together and keep them away from those bastards. You both agreed to do this, but if you want to back out now, tell me now before we make things worse on them." Neither of the boys had anything to say in rebuttal, so Jian nodded and dismissed them, and then went back to his paperwork.
Xiao wanted to run when the carriage pulled through the gates of the Wu castle. Wanted to run and never come back to anyone ever again. She probably would have if it wouldn't have meant leaving her sister there alone. Despite her bitching at Da, Xiao dearly loved her sister, even if she thought she was too agreeable sometimes. They were ushered out of the carriage and towards a man who anyone could tell was the lord Sun Jian. His manner screamed leader. And he also looked a bit temperamental; a trait Xiao thought would do any leader some good. Standing beside him was his spitting image, and by the way Da's demeanor changed, Xiao knew this must be Sun Ce. They were the only two awaiting them when they exited the carriage, so Xiao assumed her intended had backed out and decided that he didn't want to deal with her. Fine by her, she would just be her sister's maid in waiting or something along those lines.
The two men started talking to her sister, and Xiao let her mind wander to places she'd rather be, responding automatically with small sounds as the men brought her into the conversation. They started inside the castle and Xiao followed, again automatically. She then became distracted by the pictures and paintings on the walls, and accidentally started down the wrong hallway from the one the others were taking. She was startled from her unintentional exploration by a firm male grip on her shoulder. Xiao, always armed even if people didn't know it, and already skittish because of what was going on, right away thought this was a threat and reacted in turn. She gripped the top of her fan tightly and thrust it back towards the man behind her, intending to hit his gut but catching him hard in the groin instead. She smirked at his pained grunt, thinking it was just as well, but then realized something was wrong when she caught her sister's horrified expression. She closed her eyes tightly in embarrassment as Lord Sun Jian introduced the man as her soon to be husband, and knew right then even before she moved that she'd had hell.
But Xiao wasn't prepared for what she found when she turned around. She looked up to meet brown eyes lit up with anger and slight pain because of what she'd just done, but that wasn't what caught her attention. The man was gorgeous! A side thought crept into her head that he would make a better woman, but she pushed it aside before it had her smirking again and met his gaze with her own icy one. She would NOT let his pretty face convince her he wasn't an arrogant bastard. When neither one of them backed down from the battle of wills, Sun Ce stepped between them to break their eye contact.
"Zhou, now's not the time, she thought you were attacking her." Sun Ce said to his brother under his breath. He was rewarded with a look of astonishment and Zhou Yu's not so quiet voice.
"Attacking?! She was headed to the maid's quarters, for gods' sakes! I was merely trying to steer her back where she was supposed to be heading since she obviously wasn't paying attention to her direction herself." Zhou said the last part sarcastically, knowing the girl heard him.
Xiao was jerked backwards by her sister before she could start shouting her retort to his comment. She swung around on the girl only to stop dead at the girls pleading, almost teary eyed expression.
"Please Xiao … this is our one chance to be safe and not have to worry about their strict rules ever again … at least give it a chance." Xiao had to strain to hear her sister's words, and sighed in surrender. Maybe she was right … maybe dealing with this jackass was worth it to get away from the whippings.
And so, Xiao followed the others to Lord Sun Jian's office to sign the marriage paperwork, head held high in defiance, eyes shooting daggers at the man called Zhou Yu every time he hazarded an icy glance her way. Xiao was mildly satisfied that he was trying to hide a limp from what she'd done to him. She also made a promise to herself that things were going to get very interesting … and all hell was going to break loose in Wu once she got started.