A/N: Hi, me again. I got a request for something like this a very long time ago from DotDotDot. I know it is not the exact same thing, but compromise? :D
Disclaimer: Nope, still not mine. I checked and everything. Glad I can still play.
"Immortality"
"Do you want us to tell you the secret of immortality?" Emperor Yao asked his mother. The lady knelt before him with their assembled guests, clearly still livid about his continued refusal to identify his son's mother. She had been frowning since entering his chambers and now her nostrils were flaring slightly too. She could argue with him here if she wanted to, there were no courtiers or guards except the captain, Hong, to protest and he generally allowed the lady to do as she pleased. But no, there were still protocols to be observed and unlike her wily son, Lady Yao would adhere to them.
The little prince, barely four months old, lay in his father's lap playing with his handkerchief, oblivious. He had his father's face and his mother's eyes, but they matched none of the ladies of the harem. Alphonse thought those eyes looked very familiar.
"What does that have to do with anything, Your Majesty?" asked Lady Yao, turning away from him and straightening the fall of her dress. "I thought Your Majesty said that it was the philosopher's stone?"
He smiled, and turned the child onto his stomach in his lap. The little prince protested only slightly, but from this new angle he could observe more of the room and so resumed his game. The emperor replied, "Well, yes, true, a philosopher's stone would prolong one's life… if one happened to become one and was willing to kill hundreds if not thousands of people to do so. But we and our friends have found that this is not true immortality."
"Many others would disagree," said Lady Yao.
The emperor's smile grew wider, and he said, "And they would all be wrong. No, the secret to immortality is this." At this, he lifted the prince upright for her to see.
Lady Yao looked up at the child and then lifted an eyebrow. She said, "Prince Bo?"
"You could say that," said the emperor, settling the child in his lap again. "But also so are we and our siblings and our father and his siblings and our ancestors before them. We are recognised as emperor by our people by birthright, a birthright forged of the union of the clans but also by our descending from the Divine Dragon. As long as we carry the blood of the Divine Dragon we have a right to the throne of Xing, and as long as we exist, the Divine Dragon lives."
Lady Yao considered this for a moment and then said, "This birthright also gives your siblings the right to challenge you, as they have continued to do by your refusal to remove them."
The emperor's smile vanished, his lips becoming a thin line, gaze hard and he said, "We made a promise and we intend to keep it."
"To whom?" Lady Yao asked with her eyes narrowed.
The fox grin resurfaced and the emperor replied, "We were getting to that. Like we said, we claim right to rule through the Divine Dragon though we know more than anyone it is rather because of the people. If the people did not wish us to rule, then we would not be emperor. We will also not rule forever, for we are not immortal…at least we were not until Bo came along."
"Bo has made you immortal," repeated Lady Yao, clearly sceptical.
"As he has made his mother and her ancestors," replied the emperor, seriously. "Don't you see it? Everyone speaks of his eyes, they are like his mother's and so a little of her has come to live on in him."
"Am I supposed to guess?" asked Lady Yao.
"Lan Fan," said the emperor.
It took Lady Yao a moment to realise that he had not just summoned his guard, but she asked, "What about her? Has she returned from—you did not!"
"But here is the proof," said the emperor, gesturing to the prince with the wave of a hand. "Do you not see?"
It was Princess Chang who spoke then, saying with a bored sigh, "No more of this game, I was there when he was born."
The others turned to her, eyes wide in their surprise. She replied to Alphonse, face slightly pink in her embarrassment, gaze to the floor, "She is neither the emperor's wife nor concubine and not really interested in the job so she decided that the less people who knew the better. The problem is the other clans want answers and while His Majesty is willing to give them, she is not. But then His Majesty just can't keep things to himself."
His Majesty said, "How can I?" He lifted his son in his arms to look at the child's face and continued, "I have a handsome son so of course I want to share him with the world."
"Where is she?" asked Lady Yao, voice even, calm, dangerous.
"Mm?" said the emperor, then, "Resting. He hates to sleep and she refuses to leave him with the nursemaids."
Lady Yao, however, was still fuming and she snapped, "She must leave the Imperial City! Her duty was to be your guard not work her way into your bed!"
Snorting, the emperor said, "Actually, it was the other way around. Lan Fan does not play hard to get, she is. I swear I was seriously considering slipping her a little poppy smoke."
Lady Yao scoffed, and said, "This is not funny, Ling Yao."
"To you, maybe," said the emperor, shrugging. Then he looked back down at his son again and said, "I could not want a more perfect partner, and look, she does good work. I wonder what our daughter will look like. Tell me, Bo, do you want a sister? Or maybe a little brother, boys prefer that, don't they?"
Lady Yao took a deep breath and said, "Tell me she is not with child again."
The emperor smiled at his mother and replied, "I would hope so. I've certainly been trying to make sure of it as much as possible."
Alphonse and Princess Chang both went red in the face while Lady Yao scowled. But it was another who scolded, "Ling Yao, what are saying in front of the child?"
All heads turned to the doorway to find Lan Fan there, dressed in a simple red and gold gown, her hair loose about her shoulders. At the sight of her, both the prince and his father perked up, broad smiles spread across their faces.
Lan Fan smiled back at her son and went straight to him, lifting him out of his father's arms into her own before gently kissing and nuzzling his head with her chin. The prince squealed in delight and tried to hug her back. Then she turned to the others and nodded at them all, though she bowed to Lady Yao and said, "My lady."
Lady Yao turned her head away.
The emperor's smile vanished and he said, "You will not acknowledge her?"
"She does not wish to be acknowledged," said Lady Yao.
The emperor made to protest but then Lan Fan said, "It is alright, Your Majesty. Her Highness has done nothing wrong."
"It is not, Honoured One," said the emperor. His mother looked up at him sharply and he caught her gaze but said to Lan Fan, "You are mother of our heir. There will be no other beside you."
Lan Fan tried to protest, "That cannot be, this—"
"Was fated," finished the emperor. He did not look away from his mother. "Perhaps even orchestrated by less divine beings who perhaps did not understand that mutual respect and understanding are major elements of love. But then again, love has for long not been a consideration in this empire. We love her mother, she has served us with honour and honoured us with an heir. Will you not acknowledge her still?"
Lady Yao remained silent. Princess Chang and Alphonse exchanged a glance. The baby grunted and grasped at his mother's breast, which made her adjust his position in her arms and redirected his attention to the collar of her dress. The emperor placed his palm over her hand on the baby's back. Lady Yao sighed, then bowed deeply and said, "Lan Fan, Honoured One...you have honoured us all."