Prologue
She died young. Five arrows to the chest, nearly an instant death blow. It was of no importance who the girl was, as long as the Emperor was safe. She passed as a bodyguard should, protecting her master with every ounce of her being. The assassin responsible for the attempt to murder the Emperor fled, with many search parties looking for him. The Emperor was said to have gone missing for several hours afterwards, much to the concern of the court. Nevertheless, he returned within the night and locked himself in his chambers, servants rumoured to have heard weeping echo from behind his doors that evening. The assassin was found not a day later, his body riddled with so many sword slices it was barely recognizable as the same man. The news did not seem at all surprising to the young Emperor, yet his cursory glance of the corpse burned with intense hate. He ordered the body to be burned at the stake and then fed to the wild, much to the confusion of his men.
A funeral was organized by the Emperor himself, all for the nameless girl, the only death of that day. Not many knew the cause for the Emperor's sudden change of personality. He was much more distant, sombre even, and though he was known for his humour and smiles, a grin never took to his features again. Rumours spread, stretching from the palace kitchens to the far corners of Xing. She was said to be the young childhood friend of Emperor Yao of whom he cared for immensely, and still others whispered that she was a young peasant who the Emperor had adopted into his guard when he traveled to the foreign land of armies and alchemy. After all, only Amestrians would have such a thing as automail. But the most popular of rumours was that she was a young Xingese woman, the granddaughter of the legendary bodyguard Fu, and that the young Yao prince had fallen deeply in love with her. Whichever it was, all were certain that the girl had shared a kiss with their ruler in the very last moments of her life, exchanging soft words of love before passing away in his arms.
An honourable death most would say, but she was forgotten soon after, kept in no one's memory but the one belonging to Ling Yao.
He lived long. Old age had wrinkled his skin and greyed his hair. It was devastating to his country, as he had not produced a single heir in his long years of rule. He passed as an Emperor should, ripened and wise until the very end. The long years took its toll, and he died with the first smile that tugged at his lips in decades. He was found in a cemetery, lying dead at the foot of a granite grey stone with a brand new bouquet of silver lilies clutched in his withered fist. Alongside it was a small scroll, wording his final command as Emperor; he was buried at the side of that gravestone, and the Imperial Harem was to be forever dissolved, declaring that all future rulers were to marry for love. The word spread like wildfire through the Xingese Empire, peasants and royals alike convinced that their late Emperor had been driven mad by love. However, not a soul could guess which woman had made away with his heart. After all, the possibilities were endless with the Emperor. But there was a woman. Not that anyone could remember her, for that matter. Her name was erased from history long before, written off as just another soldier caught in the line of fire. And yet, her death changed the course of her country drastically, because of the love shared between the Emperor and his guard. His beloved Lan Fan.
