Chapter 1

And All Those Pretty Bruises.

She had no idea it would be her last performance, on stage, full lips parted against her ornate flute. Her hazel eyes downcast as the last note lilted through the air. If she were a weaker woman, tears would be pricking at the corner of her eyes. But she wasn't. she was Zhen Ji, the independent and ever so cold wife of Yuan Xi. Her hands began to tremble.

And they all clapped and nodded, murmuring to each other. What a commodity to have! Such a songbird, such a beauty! The yuan family certainly knew talent and beauty when they saw it, and such a noble visage, and form, what poise! The whole table clamored, save for Zhang He, the rather unusual general who simply sat back, a slight furrow on his brow.

And all she was to them, was a little doll, one to play with and use.

She could hear it all, and she no longer cared. Yuan Xi came up to her, and held out his richly gloved hand. She took it loosely and stepped down off the low stage. Her hand still gripping her flute, a lifeline. Her surroundings but a blur. She managed a glimpse of Zhang He, he looked at her and smirked. She managed a weak smile back, she almost felt dizzy.

"Your songs are as beautiful as always, as are you my lady." Yuan Xi hollowly congratulated and sat down at the long table to start the feast. Zhen Ji sat to his left. Zhang He was the only one at the table who saw, her fading away. It was if her whole body was on autopilot. Her mind was blank, her body numb, her senses had all but failed. Zhen Ji bowed slightly, survival mode had long since taken over. Good thing she was such a good actress.

"Thank you my Lord." Zhen Ji replied dimly, and stared at her plate, while the nobility, generals and tacticians gorged themselves silly on wine and food, before the upcoming battle of Guandu. Zhen Ji managed to slip out unnoticed halfway through. She was after all only a woman, and onto the patio, the slight breeze brushed her soft syrup brown hair across her face as leaned against the railing of the patio.

She wanted to go bathe, she wanted to curl up and disappear. The things he did to her...those unspeakable things. The amount of pure shame she felt seemed to haunt to her like a ghost.

'I'm pathetic. I am unworthy of my father's name. I am weak and I let myself, and all those around me suffer. And to think I could be strong for them, protect them from the Yuan family's insatiable hunger for female company, consensual or otherwise. I am a fool; I can't even look at myself without feeling nauseous' She scowled at her reflection in a puddle in the granite. She looked away at the mess she saw.

She couldn't even bare looking at herself, she wrapped her slight arms around her waist.

"That pig...I wont... I can't...allow him to live after this. After what he did to me."Zhen Ji spat into the wind, her words like acrid smoke smoldering in the air. Her eyes alit as she envisioned herself bludgeoning her husband senseless. Her flute stained ruby red.

"but...I suppose that threat is hollow, I can hardly even gain the energy to defend myself" Zhen Ji murmured, defeated, at the verge of wondering if she could find rocks to fill her dress with, and slip into the river. As unnoticed as all those pretty burises on her body.

At that exact moment, the curtain leading into the dining hall had fluttered open, and Zhen Ji unintentionally gasped. had he heard? Her stomach plunged and twisted into a knot. 'Surely if i can't even attempt revenge for what he has done, then my life is truly worthless'

"I've seen the look on your face before Lady Zhen. He has taken you against your will again has he not?" Zhange He's voice was low and venomous, wishing he could grab his combat claws himself and cut Yuan Xi to ribbons, but his time will come soon enough.

"Watch your tongue, you presume far too much General Zhang He, remember to whom you are speaking!" Zhen Ji lashed out, whipping her deadly flute at him as one would a sword. Zhang He looked at her in mild surprise, she was never this formal with him, he must have really hit the nail on the head.

"I, Lady Zhen Ji would never let a man do..." Zhen Ji stopped mid sentence, her voice wavering in the balmy night. For all the confidence she portrayed, for the high standards she held for herself, she had done the last thing she ever thought possible. She had everything stripped from her, her dignity, her strength, her happiness, and now even her will.

"Now, Ji, please, don't take that tone wi-" before Zhang He could even finish his sentence, Zhen Ji dropped her flute to the ground. Her lifeline. The clatter of the hollow metal instrument on the unforgiving granite made Zhang He stop. He had never seen her drop her flute, not in combat, and certainly not in any everyday activity. His blood ran cold at the sight of it.

"What is the use of any of this? Of this war, of this land, of any of it." Zhen Ji bit out. "I'm done with living like this. I shant continue to...to..degrade what my father wanted from me into this path." Zhen Ji's voice cracked; her mouth dry.

"I am surely meant for more greatness than this...am I not correct Zhang He?" Zhen Ji looked into his brown eyes, searching for answers she could not recieve on her own. She was trembling slightly, either out of anger, frustration or fear. Zhang He put a reassuring hand firmly on her shoulder. She felt so cold.

"Fear not my beautiful flower, for tomorrow, the upcoming battle against Wei is one that will surely turn the tides of this ugly war, filled with loathsome, graceless people." Zhang He flipped his hand in the air, as a gesture, and gracefully back-flipped onto a crate near the door he entered from. His long espresso pony tail flit around in the wind.

"The Yuan family, though proud, will soon get a real test of might against the mighty Wei. Lady Zhen, we shall fight with dignity, grace, but first and foremost beauty tomorrow. We shall demonstrate to all around us, that we are the glorious flowers of the battlefield, and no one can take that from us. We shall blossom, take root, and defeat any who stand in our way to greatness. Is that not what your father would have wanted?" Zhang He bellowed into the twilight air, and Zhen Ji knelt to pick back up her precious flute. She examined it and looked back up at him, her face unreadable.

"I don't know if can fight as I once did anymore, but, if there is a battle I could find my grip again, It would be this one." Zhen Ji turned to him, her flaring hazel eyes locking with his, her gaze slowly regaining the light that Zhang He missed so dearly in his best friend and confidant. He stepped down off the crate.

"Tomorrow, we will defend the supply depot Wuchou and see where our fates lie." She turned to him and, much to the shock of Zhang He, reached out, and took his hand, and there, on her face, was something truly rare. A smile that reached Zhen Ji's almond eyes. He squeezed her hand, and they looked out onto the horizon painted crimson and magenta.

Tomorrow, their lives will either continue to glitter, or fall as one of those stars in the sky, and as Zhang He looked down on Zhen Ji, he knew that if her star would to fall, he would let his fall with it. There would simply be no fun without her, regardless of victory or defeat by Yuan Shu's forces tomorrow.

A silent pact he made with himself, for surely if he even hinted a single syllable of it to Zhen Ji, she would call him a coward and tersely berate him for such ridiculous thoughts. But to be quite honest, Zhang He knew that they were somehow connected in this web of fate, and that whatever would befall her or him tomorrow, would befall the other as well.

"Our fates, Ji, are to spread our beauty, and shine as bright as possible, with no regret. Victory or defeat, we shall dance, and let the gods of war decide if we are worth of an encore." Zhang He announced and bowed ever so slightly. Zhen Ji smirked slightly.

"You and your poetry Zhang He, does it ever grow tiresome?" She laughed lightly and turned to face him. Pushing his arm lightly, she straightened up tall, ignoring the pain in the bruises and the welts that laced across her lower back, thighs and quads and leapt into the air, flipped, and landed on the ground below, graceful as a landing raven.

"Let us see if your words are as contrived as your attacks" Zhen Ji spun her flute around her fingers and placed it threateningly to her lips. Zhang He couldn't help but laugh as he went to the armory and grabbed his claws.

It was long overdue for a sparring match.