Sun Xiang watched out the carriage window in apprehension as it took her closer and closer to the Shu castle and her soon to be husband, Lord Liu Bei. She thought about being taken away from her family to marry this man, and that hurt more than knowing she was going to be living in a strange place around strange people. Her family had always been close, and she didn't like the thought of not being able to see them again after her wedding. Maybe she could talk Bei into something …
She blinked out of her thoughts to see that the carriage had parked in front of the steps that led to the doors of the castle, and she noted that she'd never seen such a huge or beautiful place. She hazarded a glance at the two men standing outside, waiting for her to step out of the carriage, and wondered where her husband was. She recognized the man on the right as Zhuge Liang, Bei's strategist, but she couldn't place the other man. She couldn't help but feel drawn to him as she watched them talking quietly to themselves. He was a tall man compared to her, and very handsome. She couldn't tell how long his almost black hair was, he had it tied up underneath the headdress he wore, but she got the feeling it was long, and thought that would look nice. He had beautiful brown eyes too, and she almost blushed at the thought that she could easily get lost in them if she was allowed to be rude and stare into them. She stopped her veiled appraisal as the door was opened by one of the carriage drivers, and took a deep breath before stepping out in front of the two men.
Bei caught his breath at the sight of his soon to be wife. Contrary to the plain tomboy he had heard about with the stories told around about the girl, she was a very beautiful woman. She wasn't too short, but not too tall either, and she was curvy and taught in all the right places. Contrary to the normal long hairstyle that Bei saw on women, Xiang wore her hair short, barely even long enough to brush her jaw line. She kept it held back away from her face with a headband that broadcast her Wu heritage almost as much as her clothing. Thinking about her clothing, and remembering he hadn't yet let his gaze travel below her chin, he allowed himself an imperceptible glance down her body, thinking as soon as he did that he probably shouldn't have. Her clothing hugged her like a second skin, her flowered shirt showing off her ample chest and the sash hugging it to her skin emphasizing her slender waist. Her legs were shown off beautifully by her almost knee length shorts and the stocking-like pants that she wore underneath them.
He had to force himself not to linger on her body long enough to be noticeable, so he looked back up just as her eyes met his own. She had expressive brown eyes with flecks of green running through them giving them an almost exotic look. He thought he caught a look of the same desire he felt in her gaze before she broke their connection and looked around. He couldn't help but wonder who she was looking for when she finally spoke.
"Wasn't my soon to be husband supposed to meet me here?" Xiang wanted to hit the strategist when he let out a hearty laugh at her question, and anger quickly sparked her vision.
"Was there something funny about my question, Master Kong Ming?" Xiang asked sweetly, but with noticeable venom in her pretty voice.
Zhuge had to bite back another laugh at the girl's question, but couldn't wipe the amused smile off of his face as he waved a hand towards his lord. "May I present my lord and your future husband … Lady Sun, meet Lord Liu Bei."
Xiang almost fell back inside the carriage when the words registered. This man couldn't be her betrothed! He barely looked twenty, there was no way he was 31 years old! And gods but he was a gorgeous man. Xiang mentally kicked herself from her disbelief, telling herself that there was no way Master Liang would tell a lie about such an important person as his lord. She grinned to herself as she looked the man over again, not trying to hide the gesture, thinking that marrying the Lord Liu Bei might not be such a bad situation as she had thought to begin with. She thought she almost heard a snicker come from the strategist, but when she directed her attention at him, he bowed to Liu Bei and then her then started moving away.
"Now that our guest has arrived and introductions have been made, I'll be on my way so you can spend some time together," Zhuge grinned openly after he got out of sight of the couple, thinking that things were definitely going to get interesting around Shu. He just hoped his lord could deal with the girl's well-known short temper.
Xiang looked up at her husband after the strategist had left them, giving him a half sheepish grin.
"Sorry about that, I …" she couldn't finish the sentence, embarrassed to tell him she thought he'd look like a wrinkly old man and be grouchy and grumpy.
"You thought I'd look older," Bei finished for her, smiling slightly.
"Yeah … that." Xiang caught her breath at his smile. It wasn't one of those smiles that stay at a person's mouth, always looking made up. Bei's smile lit up his whole face and gave his eyes this adorable twinkle that made him look even more gorgeous than he already was, something Xiang thought wasn't possible till that moment.
"Well, I hope your not disappointed that I don't," Bei said, a teasing lilt to his deep voice.
"Hell no I'm not!" Xiang said defiantly, earning a quiet laugh from her husband that sent shivers along her spine. She was going to have to watch herself around this man or she'd mess up before their wedding.
"That's good to know … now, you wanted to visit and see what you were coming to when you marry me, so I would be more than pleased to show you around Shu castle if you like." This last was said as Bei held out his arm to her, and Xiang nodded and slipped her arm inside his, following him around and talking as he showed her around her future home.
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Xiao yelped in surprise when a larger weight bounced into her bed with her, almost squishing her into the mattress, and briefly wondered if her dream had come to life. She had went to bed early that night to avoid a confrontation with her husband, Zhou, and had been having a rather pleasant dream about him coming to her and … she shook her head to clear that thought before it caused the usual blush to come to her cheeks, and looked at her attacker, surprised to find Xiang half sitting on her legs wearing the biggest grin Xiao had ever seen on the girl.
"What in hells got you so happy?" Xiao said grumpily, rubbing her eyes to try and wake up, then clutching the sheets nervously as Xiang bounced on the bed again, almost throwing them both into the floor in her excitement.
"I finally met him, Xiao, and he's SOOO sexy its unreal!"
"You finally met who?" Xiao asked groggily, still trying to get her half asleep mind to comprehend what was going on.
"Liu Bei!"
Besides the fact that the two words were almost squealed right into her ear, hearing Xiang say something like that about the man she just mentioned sparked Xiao's curiosity enough that her mind came wide awake at once.
"Wait … Liu Bei? I thought you said he was wrinkly and old and grouchy? He's what, like twice your age?"
"You'd never know it by looking at him, oooo!" Xiang said, bouncing on the bed again.
"Stop doing that before you dump us in the floor, dammit!" Xiao said agitatedly, but couldn't help but smile at Xiang's sheepish apologetic grin.
"Sorry, but its just such a great day, he was so sweet and considerate. He didn't once act like an undersexed man, which totally surprised me."
"Wow, he's definitely a keeper then. So he's cute?"
"Gods, he's gorgeous!"
"Well then, even more reason you shouldn't worry about your marriage," Xiao said with a laugh.
"Oh, I know I won't now. There's too much to look forward to. Shu is huge and beautiful; it's not going to be such a bad place to live in as I'd thought.
"That's good …" Xiao said before her thought started to wander.
Xiao sat and listened to Xiang talk about her future husband and his castle for a long while, losing track of time as she heard more and more how wonderful it all was. Xiang finally got tired of talking and hugged her friend before going to bed herself, but after she left all Xiao could do was lay in bed and think about how different Xiang's situation was from her own. Xiao couldn't stop the small pang of envy that hit her when she remembered how it was when she first met her husband. Xiao couldn't stay in the same room with Zhou Yu without a fight breaking out, so they'd taken to avoiding each other lately because they were both tired of the fighting and unable to work around it. Xiao sighed loudly with sadness, wondering if they'd ever get past it and get along. And so she fell asleep, her sadness and worry over her relationship with her husband making her sleep fitful and restless, her dreams full of images of their fights and his beautiful, angry eyes.