Chapter One

Return to Xing

Imperial City

Imperial Palace

8:00 am

The trip had been long, and until this last leg, secret. Ling Lao refused to slink back to his father's side in secret however. He wanted his brothers and sisters to know he had won the contest. For the last leg of the journey he had arranged to be escorted by the entirety of his clan, as well as Mei's.

It looked like a grand parade as they entered the walls of the Imperial City, drums and bells rang loudly as a caller announced the arrival of the Yao Prince. Carried in a palanquin with Lan Fan on his left and Mei on his right Ling waived with a straight face as people gathered to watch. His advisors and spies assured him he was the first to return. He had won his father's challenge. Now was the time to show his strength before any of his wayward siblings decided to move against him.

Ping, wrapped in the bright yellow silk that was the sign of his clan, sat firmly in Lan Fan's arms. She herself seemed slightly uncomfortable, dressed in a similar manner firmly declaring her his bride without him speaking a word. Mei wore the pink silk of her clan but had braided yellow ribbon in her hair to declare their alliance. As if riding on his side was not indication.

As the passed through the market square, enough of a crowd had gathered that it seemed a true celebration already, word spreading to the farthest reaches of the city. By nightfall, no doubt any of his siblings still in the country would know of his victory. The rest would be informed by the end of the week.

He knew with certainty that he and Mei were the only ones who dared cross the dessert. Many had gone north or east, and he knew at least two had gone south. Some may have even left the continent. He must send for them all soon, to offer them the same deal he had Mei. He would protect their clan in exchange for their loyalty.

His father, the Emperor, awaited his arrival in the throne room by the time they reached the palace. Surrounded by guards, and servants, Ling, Lan Fan, and Mei entered the throne room without a word. When the doors closed behind them and the servants and guards lined the walls, both women kneeled on cushioned stools before Him. Ling bowed but continued to stand as he awaited his father's word.

He knew the ceremony perfectly; his mother had explained it in great detail when he was barely able to walk and continued to do so as a bedtime tale until her assassination when he was eight. An event he neglected to mention to his new friend, mostly because he did not want to be accused of using his mother's loss to gain an advantage. He would use nearly anything, but not that.

Emperor Shi watched his son impassively for a few minutes before waiving a hand slightly, giving Ling permission to kneel as well. Ling was situated in front of the women, with them flanking him in a triangle. No one spoke until there had been not the slightest hint of a rustle of cloth. Then the Emperor said, in his cold hard voice. "Ling, son of the Yao clan, you present yourself to me in such spectacle what right have you above your peers?"

"My Lord, I alone present to you the answer to your riddle." Ling said with a deep bow, his forehead nearly touching the polished floor.

Ling then reached for the jade box he had kept at his side from the moment he had arrived in the country, though its contents had sat in his inner pocket until he had arrived outside. A servant of his father's stepped forward to collect the box, taking a moment to look inside in case of sabotage before presenting it to Emperor Shi.

The man took the box and looked inside, a small pleased smile flited across his face briefly before he set it aside. Ling did not miss the vial slip up his father's sleeve. He knew Lan Fan hadn't either. Shi then indicated Ling rise, before rising himself and stepping down to stand in front of the young prince. Ling hadn't known to expect this and it took everything in him to fight the instinct to pull one of the many daggers hidden on his person.

Instead of acknowledging his son's discomfort in any way, the man nodded his head over Ling's right shoulder where Lan Fan was currently kneeling. "You're other treasure?"

Ling nodded to Lan Fan, who rose to stand just behind the prince. Ling said loudly with pride. "I present my bride, Lan Fan, and my first heir Ping Shi Yao."

"He is rather slight." The emperor stated with a sniff.

"He is above the age of presentation. Thirty-two days." Ling said calmly. "I have physicals reports on his health."

"Very well. You are prepared to officially claim him."

"Yes."

The emperor nodded but made no move to further interact with the child, instead he addressed the court recorder "Send word to all the clans, Ling Yao has been named Heir Apparent. The first ceremony to take place summer solace."

"I name Mei Chang my second." Ling declared formally, nodding for his sister to rise as well. " The Chang clan has officially been bound to the Yao."

"Ah yes, I was wondering when that would be addressed." The Emperor said snidely. "Raised yourself up in the world then haven't you, little bird?" he said to his daughter, who simply nodded without a word. "Very well. She is now your responsibility. I declare her among your heirs."

With that the meeting was dismissed, and servants lead the prince and his family to their apartments they would use while in the palace. The remainder of the Yao-Chan clan would be housed with the servants on the grounds. All had gone as expected.

Ling's apartments

6:00 am

Ling was used to rising with the sun, years of training could not be abandoned thanks to less than a day as Heir. It seemed surreal to him. Years of training and planning and scheming was over now. He had won. All of the loss and pain. All of the fighting and training. He wondered what to do now. Would it really be this easy? With heirs already in place, it made him less of a target only in that it was questionable if his assassination would improve another's chance to take his slot.

Still, it was not the time to let down his guard. He was still in danger, perhaps as much danger as last month when he helped Edward defeat Father. Ling watched the sunrise through the shuttered windows before sitting down to write Edward and inform him of the events of the trip.

Ping and Lan Fan were up as well, he heard them in the nursery, she was singing him a cradle song she had picked up from Edward. Ling recognized it well. He considered calling out to invite them out to join him but wasn't sure he wanted to interrupt. Since they married, Lan Fan had been nervous and quiet around him. He wondered if she regretted agreeing but wasn't sure how to ask. He wasn't sure he wanted to know.

Truthfully, he had loved her a long time. He was pretty sure she at least liked him too. Duty and honor had kept them at arm's length until now…and now he didn't know how to change that. She would defend him to the death. But he wanted her to share his life. He needed advice, and there was no one to ask. Miserably, he stepped into his dining room to find breakfast had been laid out for them, and sat to eat.

A few minutes later, Mei came in as well and after hesitating a moment joined him at that table. "Has Lan Fan not risen?" She asked politely.

"She is attending Ping." Ling responded. "You needn't be so formal with me little sister. Not in our rooms. Lan Fan either."

"We aren't in Amestris anymore Brother. Formality is expected." Mei replied.

"Not. In. here." Ling said angrily. "I did not sell my soul, tear apart my body, surrender my will to be a damn puppet! We became a team, we remain a team or everything I sacrificed was for nothing."

"Peace Brother." Mei said. "It was for everything. You are weeks away from coronation. Now is not the time to grow careless."

"My wife won't speak to me at all and my heir treats me as a stranger. I don't feel this is a victory." Ling said. "Excuse me, I want to hold my son."

Ling wandered into the nursery, where Lan Fan was still sitting with the baby, and plucked the baby from her arms. "You should eat."

"Have you eaten, My Lord." Lan Fan asked in her soft voice.

"I have, and so should you." Ling said as he regretfully placed the baby in a cradle for a moment, before turning to his wife. He pulled her to her feet gently from the rocking chair to hug her. "You are my wife now Lan Fan. Please, stop addressing me so formally. At least in private."

"I shall try." Lan Fan said, after a moment returning the hug.

"You make me wonder if you regret agreeing to marry me." Ling said with the smirk he wears as a mask, in a light and playful tone.

"I do not." Lan Fan said after a moment. "You might in time."

"Why in the world would I regret marrying you? I love you." Ling said, before he realized he had said that out loud, and his wife stiffened in his arms. He had been so careful to avoid those words. He had yet to say them, and had hoped to wait until a more appropriate setting. Preferably involving a romantic dinner, and time for her to get used to being his wife.

"I love you too." Lan Fan said. "I am not a princess, nor do I know how to be. I can not bare you sons. I am a bad match, and you will come to regret making me your first wife."

"I can not sire you sons, I don't need you to be anything but you, and I don't give a damn about tradition you are my only wife." Ling said with conviction. "Of course my Father and his advisors don't need to know that, or any of my other plans. I will do everything I can to make your life happy. You and Ping are all I need."

Lan Fan nodded but didn't truly believe him. She believed that he believed that but he was still young. In time he would regret her not giving him more children.

Three Days Later

Prince's Apartments

1:00-pm

Since his talks with his sister and wife they had relaxed slightly. He reminded them a few times of their time abroad and it was going well. He decided he wanted to hire Darius and Heinkel as personal guards if they would agree, so he was writing them now. He also decided to invite several friends to his coronation, and the party beforehand. He compiled a list and sent it to his father's retainer for approval.

The coronation itself took less than an hour, but the guests were to be entertained for two weeks before hand. Ling was inviting Edward, of course. That was the first person on his list he was putting together. Followed by Colonel Mustang, though Ling had learned the man was now a general. Darius and Heinkel were invited. Alphonse wouldn't be healthy enough to travel, though Ling would love to invite him. He thought about it and added him to the guest list but intended to send a letter excusing him as well.

He sat there thoughtfully, trying to think of anyone else he wanted to invite personally, but the truth was aside from his clan he didn't have a lot of people he knew personally well enough to invite. That said, there was the leaders of their neighbors as well. It would do well in his plans to begin to forge alliances early. Thoughtfully he tapped his chin before he added the fuhrer of Amestris, the king of Drachma, and the king of Aurego. He then frowned as he considered his siblings. They would all be invited, of course, but some were more trustworthy than others at this point.

He knew that Mei was of course, though a year ago she wouldn't have been an ally which gave him hope for at least some of the others. He was fairly certain he could sway five without difficulty. The Li Princess was his age and had never seemed interested in the throne itself, rather her clan's honor. The Wang Prince had never sent an assassin after any of their siblings as far as he knew, though he was older than Ling so that may be a sticking point. The Zhang clan's prince was the youngest if he remembered correctly, he was only three Ling was certain he could sway the boy's mother. The Yang Princess was fairly even tempered and had expressed desire for clam unification before she was a year older than him so it may be an issue as well. The Zhao Prince was a toss up but Ling was fairly certain he could be swayed.

On the other hand, he needed to be very wary of Ren Liu and Dalip Wu. They were responsible for the deaths of seven of their siblings already. They had formed an allegiance years before when they were barely old enough to understand pacts and had stuck to it… The remainder of his siblings he didn't know enough about off hand to make a judgement, but he had put his guards on the matter. He needed to know where to house them for the ceremonies after all.

Once he had finished his lists and set the guest list aside to give to the aides, he locked the rest of his paperwork in his desk and went in search of his family. He needed to talk to the girls about what was happening, because he was thinking about picking someone to send back to Amestris with Edward to teach Alkahestry to the Elric brothers. It was their legacy after all.

He found Lan and Mei in the sitting room speaking quietly about the state of their relationship. There had been more than one fight between the two before they had formed their current alliance and both still had ruffled feathers over it but were trying to make peace as Ling requested. He loathed to interrupt their peace talks but he was very short on time at the moment and he needed to make arrangement as quickly as he could.

He sat down and explained what he was intending. Mei frowned, if anyone was going to teach the Elrics she wanted to do it. She didn't think Ling would agree though, not with everything else going on. She was his heir after all. Still, Ling was surprisingly flexible with his rulings so she may be able to sway him. Then that was one less thing he needed to arrange.

Ping was brought into the room a few minutes later by his nurse, and Lan took him gratefully. She seemed to share Ling's desire to keep the child in sight at all times. They were hindered by royal protocol, which Ling fully intended to ignore the moment he was no longer under his father's rule.

He knew a lot of the changes he intended could make him as many enemies as allies, which is why he intended to sway the five clans to his side as quickly and quietly as possible. For now though, he wanted to spend the next couple of hours with his wife and sister.

One Week Later

Ling had with permission invited the five clans early for a peace negotiation. His father had warned him it was a waste of time, but allowed it for no other reason to teach the boy humility. Ling had planned this meeting carefully. Instead of having all five siblings arrive at once and risk a clan war in the palace, Ling had staggered the visits. Each sibling would be escorted by a handful of guards and attendants to hear his offer and then would be sent home before the next arrived. There was roughly six weeks until his coronation so that gave him a week for each sibling, with a tiny amount of time.

They would be arriving based on geographical location, the closest to the imperial city first, the farthest last so they would simply stay in the city instead of returning later in the case of the farthest. That meant that Ling would be talking to the Zhang clan first and the Li clan last. He was just his luck that the first sibling he intended to negotiate with was the one to young for these things. He hoped the mother was reasonable and kind, like his own mother, but he knew this was not a priority on his father's list so it could go either way.

With the risk of his plans in mind, he decided to spend the day with his family to get their approval. Lan and Mei both knew something was going on for him to suggest a day spent in the western gardens. He carried on despite both women being suspicious. They were right after all. He loathed to do it but he even agreed to leave Ping in the care of his Nurse for the afternoon so that if there was yelling it wouldn't disturb the baby.

Once they had settled into the walk and were a fair distance from the palace, or as far as they could reasonably get and still be inside the walls, he sighed heavily before inviting them both to sit. Lan and Mei sat on either side of him on the stone bench, and he worried briefly that after all he had survived this would be the end of him. "As I explained in Amestris, I intend to bring all the clans together as one. Now the first step of this will be my refusal to take additional brides, though father doesn't need to know that. The second step is to negotiate with other clans, which father does know about. He thinks I'm wasting my time, but I have to try. With that in mind, I've invited the five families most likely to agree to an alliance to visit me in the palace. I'm not stupid. Each has been invited separately and will all leave before the next arrives. "

"You really are a fool Ling Yao. Just don't get killed, or get my people killed." Mei said.

"If it is your will, so be it." Lan said with a bow.

"None of that now. I told you, you are my wife. I expect to be treated the same as you would any husband when we are in private. That means if you think I'm being stupid say it." Ling said to his wife, who simply nodded her head then shrugged. "I assume then I have both of your support?"

Both women nodded, though neither actually thought it was a good idea. In the end all three walked away fairly unhappy with the conversation. It was times like these he missed Ed and the Chimeras most. They didn't sugar coat anything just because he was a possessed prince. They treated him the same as they treated each other which frankly was wonderful after a lifetime of being either prince or target.