The price of cowardice
The next morning they both woke almost simultaneously. The morning was golden. Noise was in and out of the palace. The light of the sun shone through a clean sky and directly through the delicate bed curtains. Ying Kong Shi had decided not to look for another place to sleep. Even if he had been nervous about lying down next to her again, he also knew she expected him to. After all, he had promised her that he would always be by her side. And the matter with the assassin was still not resolved. Until then, he would always have an excuse if she teased him about where to sleep. A smile appeared on her face as he grabbed her hand and kissed her. "Good morning, Yan Da." She opened her eyes and, as before, he was shocked by the two colors he saw. "What, is someting wrong?" Yan Da had noticed his expression, and jumped out of the bed. She went to her dressing table, and looked in the mirror. She said nothing, only her trembling hands betrayed her confusion. Slowly he stepped behind her, and let his dazzling spell fall from his eyes. Both faces in the mirror now showed a strange resemblance. He grabbed her golden and white hair strands and let them fall forward over her nightgown. "Look what the most beautiful creation of the Ice Fire Stone is." When she stayed motionless, he put an arm around her shoulder, and turned her around. "Come on, let's have breakfast and talk it over." She nodded. She quickly cast a camouflage charm over him, and then rang for the servants. Trays were pushed in and she ordered the servants to arrange them on chairs around her bed. Then she sent them out. As Yan Da tried to turn around, she felt his hands lift her up with a swing. "So that's it. Not a day has passed since my oath and you want to have breakfast with me in your bed!" He exclaimed with a broad smile." Yan Da turned deep red as he carried her to the bed and carefully laid her on her side. Then he slipped in himself. He wondered where he got the courage from to treat her so playfully. But he had already woken up with that ease in his heart that made him dizzy. And her embarrassed smile spurred him on in a strange way. He took a fruit from the table and let her bite into it. The juice that dripped from her chin formed a red trail on her white skin. He leaned over and kissed the sweetness away. Suddenly she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him passionately. He only froze for a second. Then he let the fruit fall and wrapped his hands possessively around her waist. Their kisses quickly became passionate. Ying Kong Shi's heart pounded as he slowly pulled her sleeping gown from her shoulders. His hands wandered over her body as if by themselves. Through the soft fabric he felt her flat muscular stomach, her ribs, and finally the exciting soft curve of her breasts. As his lips made their way down from her neck, she suddenly pushed him back onto the bed with all her strength. When he protested, she sat on top of him and pinned him under her. She gently put a hand on his chest and whispered: "Wait. Have you thought this through? As far as I know, it has been customary for the last ten thousand years for the next Ice King to pick a woman from his tribe or the tribe of the Mermaids. How can we possibly be together? As soon as you officially ascend the throne, the Mermaid Clan will take it as an insult if you turn from this millennia-old tradition to make me your wife. Also, the leaders of the other tribes may not accept me as the new Queen. As you are the supreme leader of the Three Kingdoms, they might force you to dethrone me. What should stop them from making such a demand? Who should vouch for me? If you do, they will lose confidence in you. And besides that, it will be difficult for you to ascend your throne anyway. You have been under Yuan Ji's curse for the past few weeks. It will take effort to explain to everyone that you are not a traitor. It will also be difficult to credibly explain to them that it was not you who killed Ka Suo, but my father. The only witnesses were Li Luo, Lang Shang and me. Nobody will believe me. As for the other two, I believe they left this world. They met with a strange figure under the ancient Cherry Blossom Tree. I could hear only little of what they were saying, but it sounded as if the stranger made them an offer to leave this world to start again somewhere else. I know that sounds odd, but I swear to speak true. They also took Ka Suo's body away. So there is no evidence left that can proof that my father's magic caused his death. Now that the two women are gone, guess who has last been seen with them? It was me! I freed them from Li Tian Jin's henchmen. Everybody will believe that I have killed them as an act of war against the Ice Tribe!"
When he saw that the increasing panic her eyes, he grabbed her arm. "Yan Da, calm down, please! Believe me that I too have thought that our future will not be easy. But look what we both did together! Look out of the window! Yesterday we fundamentally changed your kingdom. Isn't that proof that we're both strong together? We will find a way to pacify the clans and overcome all issues. And I will leave no doubt that after I ascend the throne I will stand up for the Fire Tribe. If necessary, I will ask Xing Gui to turn my memories of the last few minutes with Ka Suo into a dream. His words will legitimize me to take the throne. And look at yourself! I always knew you were a gem in the middle of coal and ashes. When I was Yun Fei, I started to believe in you, even love you. And that made you the enemy I feared most. I always knew that I had it not in me to hurt the only kind and good heart in the royal family of the Fire Tribe." He smiled, as he hugged her even more. "Yan Da, you were my curse, for you reminded me that I couldn't cross a line in my immoralities that I found necessary to protect Ka Suo. Now I don't see you as a curse anymore, but my greatest blessing, and that means you can win the others for you, too. How can they not love and respect you, once they get to know you? It will be your actions from this day on that will make it all possible. I think, the power source of the goddess of creation is not her magic, it's her heart!"
Hearing him speak these words, Yan Da was finally able to calm down. When she pulled out of his embrace, she smiled at him, sniffing. He wiped her tears from her face and kissed her forehead lovingly. "Thank you for encouraging me so much. And you are right. I will not rest until I have proven to everyone that I really am the peaceful ruler I promised them to be with the end of the war. Nonetheless, I'm going to need your advice, and more than today's encouragement, to win the tribes' trust." Suddenly she looked at him shyly. "As for the other thing… you may think badly of me, but after yesterday I know that I refuse to imagine a future in which I have to watch you marry another woman. So… remember your oath that you made to me yesterday. I expect you to put your efforts in making me your rightful wife. I will not settle for anything less."
His eyes became dark blue, almost threatening, and Yan Da became uncomfortably aware that she was still sitting on top of him. "Yan Da, I made this oath because I love you. It is also my sincere wish to officially marry you one day, as soon as we have forged political ties to hold up this peace. But you should know that, from now on, there is no worldly authority that can force me to consider myself as anything less but your rightful partner. No political framework can force me to bond with someone else against my will. If it is your wish, I'll accept us to not go any further. But you know as well as me that since our first kiss there has been a passion between us that I can hardly put into words. I feel like I am dry wood, and just one look from you is enough to ignite me. It's not lust that drives me crazy, but the feeling that it's not right to keep the two of us still apart. If we don't deserve to be together, who does?"
Yan Da stroked a strand of hair from his forehead and gave him a thoughtful look. "You're such a sweet talker. Sometimes I think you're not the Ying Kong Shi I remember anymore. But then I look at you and I feel like I've always known you. That's one of my reasons why I will not give myself to you until everything between us is clearer. I think you are hiding something from me, something very important. Please never forget that I am not Lan Shang. I grew up among men, who have repeatedly used me for their goals. Even if I admit that I feel the same yearning for you, I won't let myself be convinced as long as I have the slightest doubt that something is wrong with you. So what about an agreement? The day you tell me the full truth, I'll be ready to give myself in to you."
Her words hit him to the core and all the lightness of the morning was gone. He couldn't hold her gaze any longer as the old guilt arose in him. He swallowed, and finally nodded. "All right. I will comply with your request." He forced a smile. "I was going to explain some things to you over breakfast anyway." He reached out and poured them some tea. "Long ago, there happened to be a man and a woman from the Ice Fire Tribe that were the first to discover love ..." He told her everything he had learned from Xian Xue the night before. He also revealed that he had been in contact with his ancestor for a while, that it had been him to give Ying Kong Shi the Six Leaf Ice Crystal to heal her. He also told her of the Blood Red Lotus that his ancestor had gained by his sacrifice at Lian Qiu Rock Island, and that he had revived Xing Gui and the others to help him to become the new King of the Ice Tribe.
The more he told Yan Da, the more he became aware that he was only able to tell her half of the truth. The way she suspiciously focused on him reminded him of the Yan Da of the other dimension, who had chosen death over the possibility of another life with him. No matter how hard he tried to convince himself that he could trust this Yan Da in front of him, it wasn't enough to reveal his failures to her in her second life. So he left it all out, carefully staying as close to the truth as he could risk. When she asked him why Xian Xue hadn't just resurrected Ka Suo when he was in the possession of such a powerful item like the Blood Red Lotus, there was a knock on the door. A little too quickly, Yan Da found, he cloaked his presence with a spell. She hid her two-colored eyes and let her servants in. As they started to clean and dress her for the day, she felt that he had already left the room.