Ups and downs
It was evening over the ice palace. They had housed Xian Xue in Ying Kong Shi's quarters and took turns taking care of him. He was still unconscious. His mind was out of reach, no matter what they tried to get in contact with him. At least, his wounds weren't as severe as they had expected. Unfortunately, Yue Shen hadn't found any clues or signs of an attack on Cherry Blossom Island that they could investigate further. Yan Da poured herself a glass of wine. She sat on the balcony of her royal guest quarters that had meanwhile been furnished to her likings. Yin Kong Shi had given clear instructions that no effort should be spared to make the Fire Queen as comfortable as possible. She was almost embarrassed at the luxury and beauty with which her rooms had been filled. Yan Da hadn't even looked in the cabinets that had been newly positioned. She would surely find precious clothes and jewels in them. The Ice Prince gave her presents as if she were already his official wife. Yan Da sighed, and took a sip of the red wine. She would have to talk to him about it. The servants would surely gossip about the many gifts, and that would lead to rumors about the nature of their relationship. If the Mermaid Saint heard about that, and her presence in the Ice Palace instead of following the Predor's advice of concentrating on her preparations, it could turn her even more against Yan Da.
Has she hired the assassin to get me out of the way? Is she really interested in Ying Kong Shi? She still looks so young and has never met him before. Somehow it doesn't fit together. Does the leader of the Mermaids really believe that the protective hand of the Ice Clan has been stretched out over her tribe for thousands of years only because there is a tradition of marriage? The Ice Clan has never failed to protect all the other allied clans equally, even without the ties of repeated political marriages. So, is there a deeper reason behind all of it? The more I think of it, the less likely it seems that the Predor would use an assassin to get rid of me. I don't know why, but I can't see her as an evil and conspiring person. And Yu Lian couldn't possibly know of my older soul being in the Magic Cube. None of our friends who know about it would gain anything in giving this information to others- on the contrary. I doubt that they would have ever told me about the older Yan Da's soul at this early stage of Ying Kong Shi's and my relationship, if the Magic Cube hadn't been stolen.
Frustrated, she got up and walked to the balustrade. This is so confusing. Why has the assassin stopped to attack me and instead has chosen the Cube as the new target? How could that other Yan Da's soul be a threat to me? Will the assassin try to kill her, and me with her along? Are we just two lives sharing the same soul? If so, how much time do I have left? Will I even live tomorrow, or die tonight in my sleep? The Fire Queen grasped the railing of the balcony tightly with her fingers. Its icy cold helped against the rising panic. She took a deep breath and let her gaze wander deliberately into the distance, to where wafts of mist hid the mystical mountains of the Fantasy Ice World. The sight of the eternal mountains and the clear evening air gradually calmed Yan Da down.
No. These thoughts lead me to nowhere. Even though I am much stronger than weeks ago, not everything lies in my hands. It doesn't matter if I live thousands of years, or only thousands of seconds. Am I not in any case luckier than those mountains? I know now that I am loved back. And that this love comes from the only man I have ever been interested in, a man like one of those icy mountains, once so cold that only months ago he seemed unmoved by my love. But there I am, carrying his marks in and on my body.For this luck alone I should be thankful to fate. These past weeks, I probably have experienced more love and joy than that poor other version of me in two thousand years. So what am I afraid of? I will make every moment count, for the sake of all of us. And if my light goes out one day soon, I won't have anything to regret.
Yan Da felt stronger now, and she stood proud and tall against the cold. She had always known that it was her most secret skill to get up on her feet when others would drown in despair. She had mastered this ability from a life full of obstacles, long before she had met Ying Kong Shi. She focused on herself now, and turned her attention to the condition of her body. One of the few things her brother had taught her as a duty of every warrior was to treat and maintain her body as well as her armory. She felt exhausted and her muscles were sore in unusual places. She was no longer a virgin, but she hadn't had time to come to terms with that and the experiences of the last two days. When she involuntarily remembered images from the previous evening, she immediately felt this strange heat again, which flashed through her like lightning. Her body had now learned to long for the touch of a man, and only the thought of Ying Kong Shi got her going. Did he feel the same way? The Fire Queen took a deep breath. In a low voice she started to hum the melody that Ying Kong Shi had once been taught by his beloved brother. She indulged in the calming effect of the melody. Her song echoed up the palace walls into the silent ether of the evening. Far above, in the Phantom Sky of the Ice Palace, Ying Kong Shi pricked up his ears, and in melancholy and astonishment listened to the voice of the only person left he truly loved.