3. Dancer

Diao Chan stood waiting. There were two sister beside her, fidgeting with their fans. The three of them were to be the main entertainment for the feast to celebrate the promotion of Sun Jian, one of the warlords to take down the yellow turbans, to Grand Minister.

Her father, Wang Yun, had arranged for her to produce half the music required for the feast.

X

Now was when they were supposed to go around and serve the wine. She led the sisters back into the dining hall, their fans had been replaced with porcelain pitchers of red wine, or in her case, tea. They began to walk among the rows of long tables that lined the halls, looking for someone to serve. The emperor only ever allowed her to ever serve him, never any other dancer. She was his favorite. She would have served him tonight if he wasn't sitting with his wife. She had never gotten along with the empress as well as she got along with the emperor. Of course, it wasn't hard for her to get along with men, not with her pretty face.

After a little while of searching, she found an unaccompanied man that she like the looks of.

His face alone was fearsome. With his black eyes set under bushy eyebrows, it gave him the appearance of a demon. He was dressed in black robes with light decorate armor, but there was something about him that made her curious about him.

Diao Chan made her way behind him.

"Refill, my lord?" She politely asked.

He turned to look at her and turned away and then he spun in his seat to face her again. The double take was clearly caused by how she filled out her costume since he was now staring at her. It made a little color flush in her cheeks.

"I don't drink wine, but you can have a seat anyway."

"I do not serve wine, my lord." She told him.

He gave her a look with a strange sort of smirk on his face.

"Really, what kind of..." He couldn't find the right word so he skipped it. "Doesn't serve wine?"

"What kind of general doesn't drink it?" She shot back.

He smiled.

"The kind of general that knows that wine will dull his senses and fighting skills if he would drink it."

She sat down next to him, letting her bare thigh brush against his hip for the briefest of moments before she completely settled in her seat.

"Quit calling me 'lord'. My name's Lu Bu."

She bit her bottom lip in a strange curious interest. Then she turned her head away, slightly embarrassed.

"You're the Lu Bu I heard about? Dong Zhuo adopted son?" She asked as she let her eyes wander back to him.

He raised his chin proudly.

"You've heard of me?" He asked.

"Of course I have."

It was the truth. She had heard of him. Only, she was going to flatter him beyond what she thought he deserved. He seemed to be enjoying it. She enjoyed his gloating. Seeing a mightly and powerful general act so foolish and immature was always amusing.

"But you haven't told me your name." He pointed out.

"My name is Diao Chan."

"Diao Chan." He repeated.

She some color to flush her cheeks and smiled to give him the illusion that she liked it when he said her name like that, just as she had been taught to do. It wasn't all bad, but his voice simply couldn't convey the tone he had been trying to.

"Diao Chan, capable, beautiful and graceful all in one."

She smiled and blushed uncontrollably as he listed off different meanings of her name.

"And you name refers to an incoming thunderstorm." She replied.

He smiled.

"I can see your beauty and you've proven how graceful you are, but Diao Chan, just how capable are you?"

She lowered her gaze to her lap since she knew that her eyes were bulging once again. If this was his idea of flirting, he didn't like to waste any time. So she didn't take his bait. Instead, she threw out some of her own, just for the fun of seeing his reaction. She was no courtesan.

"It depends on what the task is, but I'll leave that for you to find out, since I'm sure you'll be staying here in the capital for a while. Now if you'll excuse me, I have other guests to attend to."

"Of course, Diao Chan."

She gave him another smile and gracefully got to her feet. She started walking along the tables once again. A mere two seconds later, she was beckoned by an intriguing looking man. He wore stunning dark blue robes. His tan skin was complemented by his dark brown hair and hazel eyes. His neatly cut facial hair gave him a striking appearance. His companion was an equally impressive looking man.

Diao Chan took her seat next to the first one, the one who called her. She refilled his cup for him.

"Thank you and some for my cousin if you wouldn't mind."

She smiled.

"Not at all." She replied as she poured the second man his cup.

"My name is Cao Cao," The first man told her. "and this is my cousin, Xiahou Dun."

"I'm Diao Chan. You said Cao Cao, the son of Cao Song? You're the man that killed Zhang Jiao?"

Cao Cao smiled proudly.

"Yes."

"He was an airbender, wasn't he?"

"Yes."

"And you were still able to defeat him."

"Airbending may be mysterious, but waterbending is the strongest."

"How do you reason that?"

"Water is everywhere."

"Air is everywhere." She pointed out.

"Yes, but waterbending is preached and practiced. Airbending is a lost art."

She nodded. Cao Cao was charming enough, but she knew his type. He was the kind that once he got what he wanted, he left. So she took her leave once again. When they realized she had poured tea into their goblets, they quickly called one of those fan sisters over.

She found another large man dressed in red and gold armor. He was sitting with other men dressed in red. Red was the color of the Sun family. This must be Sun Jian. She may not be very acquainted with the regional lords. She didn't know them at first glance, but she knew enough to put the pieces together. So she went over to them.

"Would you like some warm tea, my lord?"

"No, thank you though."

She nodded and continued on. This was pathetic! All the other dancers had found a decent man to serve for the rest of the night. She would have thought that with all the regional lords gathered here that one of them would be up to her standards.

The next man she came to was Yuan Shao. She was very acquainted with him since he spent more time here than any other regional lord in the land. He was arrogant and self-righteous. She could barely stand his company when she had to. She didn't have to serve him, so she continued. She came to three men all sitting together. One had a long, flowing beard that almost went as far as his belt. Another had a mess of curly hair on his head and jaw line. The third stood out simply because he wasn't a giant. He was normal size. Only a little bit taller than she was. Unlike the others, he had no facial hair, but that gave him a gentle and youthful look.

"Refills, my lords?" She asked.

"Not for me. I've had enough for tonight." The one with the long beard answered as he stood up and left, opening a spot up for her to sit next to the gentle looking one.

"Not for brother Fei, he's about to pass out." He told her.

"Already?" She doubted.

He nodded. Then, right on cue, the frizzy hair man called 'Fei' passed out. He fell backwards with his arms sprawled out around him.

"Wow."

"Yes, my brother is quite the talented drinker."

"I hope he wasn't too drunk to see my performance." She thought aloud.

"Oh, it was you in the lead? I have to say, that was quite the performance. I've never seen someone dance with fans like you do. You must train hard to be able to do that."

Her cheeks reddened. She lowered her chin and turned away from him slightly so that he wouldn't see.

"Forgive me, my lady. I have not properly introduced myself. I'm am Liu Bei. I was commander of the volunteer forces during the rebellion."

She looked back at him.

"Liu Bei, are you related to the emperor?"

Right after she said it, she realized that she shouldn't have.

"I'm sorry Lord Liu Bei. I shouldn't be so blunt."

Liu Bei raised his hand to gesture that it was alright.

"It is quite alright, my lady, but I would like to have a name to call you." He told her.

She gave him a small grin.

"Would you like my real name or shall I make one up for you?" She teased.

He laughed.

"My name is Diao Chan." She told him when he stopped laughing.

"Well then, now that I know your name. I hope it is your real one. Diao Chan, it is a lovely night, would you like to go for a walk?"

She thought for a moment. Different mean had different personal meanings for the word 'walk'. Liu Bei seemed to be a good man. She doubted that his definition of 'walk' was the same as that of Cao Cao. So she decided to agree to it.

"Alright."

Liu Bei smiled as he jumped to his feet. He offered her his hand, so she took it, but didn't rely on it to get back to her feet. She walked next to Liu Bei with her hands locked together in front of her. They left the dining hall and walked to the gardens. She knew the castle well, so she knew exactly where they were.

"So Diao Chan, tell me about yourself."

She smiled shyly.

"I'm afraid that a dancer's life is not as near as exciting as a warlord's. Tell me of your life."

Liu Bei talked of his sworn brothers, that they were earthbenders and that he was not a bender. He talked about the yellow turban rebellion too. She noticed a dark figure following them. So she made an abrupt turn that would turn them both toward their pursuer, but he was gone. Diao Chan covered it all up by asking;

"So, you're loyal to the Han?" She asked.

"Yes, I am. Are you?"

"Yes."

They sat down at the base of a tree. The follower was still gone, but she didn't know for how long.

She couldn't know the reason, but Liu Bei had leaned in and kissed her. He placed a hand on the side of her neck. So she put her hand on his cheek. He was soft and gentle. If she was to ever have a husband, which was unlikely, but she would want one that would kiss her like Lui Bei was now.

Then there was a loud crash.

Both of them jumped and pulled apart, but they didn't see anything. Could it have been that person watching them? Who were they, and business did they have spying on her?

Hey, would really appreciate a review right about now so that I know that someone is interested in this story :)